India vs Bangladesh, 2019: Combined XI from the T20I series

With India sealing the series 2-1, here is a look at the combined XI from the T20I series.

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Indian team
Indian team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

It was the first time Bangladesh traveled to India for a T20I series and it was indeed a very tight one. In fact, they would consider it as an opportunity missed. They made history in the first T20I by beating India for the first time ever in the shortest format but then missed out in the next two games. The Bangladesh side almost gave India a scare in the final game but the hosts held on.

India came back strongly after the loss in the first game. The batting which was under severe criticism came to the party in the last two games. India had scored 148 in the first game on a tricky Delhi pitch which Bangladesh chased down in the final over. But in the second game, they hunted down 154 with ease. In the third game, India were in a spot of bother after losing both their openers but the middle order revived them and helped them get to a good score. The Indian bowling was very good with Deepak Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal leading the way.

There were a few positives for Bangladesh as well. Mohammad Naim had a brilliant debut series while leg-spinner Aminul Islam was very impressive as well. Soumya Sarkar was decent as well but Bangladesh will hope the other senior players stand up and take more responsibility.

With India sealing the series 2-1, here is a look at the combined XI from the T20I series.

1. Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)

It hasn’t been the kind of series Rohit Sharma would’ve expected. However, after being 0-1 down in the series, he led India’s comeback in the second game. There were quite a few records he broke during the series.

He also became the leading run-getter in T20Is, overtaking Virat Kohli’s tally of 2450 runs. The Mumbaikar also became just the second cricketer in men’s T20Is and the first Indian male cricketer to play 100 T20Is. His 115 sixes in T20I cricket is also the most by any batsman in the format.

After scoring just 9 in the first T20I, the stand-in Indian skipper was in the mood in the second game. Chasing 154, he single-handedly killed the chase with his 85. Rohit smoked six sixes and as many fours in his 43-ball knock. However, he failed in the last game as he was cleaned up by Shaiful Islam for just 2. But he ended as India’s second-highest run-scorer in the series.

2. Mohammad Naim

Mohammad Naim
Mohammad Naim. (Photo Source: Twitter)

There’s absolutely no doubt that Mohammad Naim was the best batsman of the series. Playing his debut international series, Naim impressed everybody. He got runs in every game of the series.

He scored a 28-ball 26 on debut and gave Bangladesh a pretty good start in the second game when he scored 36 off 31 balls. However, it was the third game when Naim showed his talent. The 20-year-old smashed 81 to give India a real scare.

The way he batted under pressure was brilliant. After Bangladesh were reduced to 12/2, he took charge and led the recovery. Naim shared a fantastic stand with Mohammad Mithun where the former was the aggressor. It was his wicket that turned the tide. But the series debutant finished the series as the highest run-getter with 143 runs.

3. KL Rahul

KL Rahul
KL Rahul. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

This may be a debatable choice but KL Rahul looked at his fluent best in the third and final T20I. He was looking good in the first game as well but the slowness got to him and he reached eight not out as India chased down 154 with ease after Rohit Sharma’s onslaught.

Rahul has been low on confidence and was axed from the Test team. The Karnataka batsman went back to domestic cricket and scored runs. He had a very good Vijay Hazare Trophy. He continued his form. While he missed out in the first game as he wasted a start but he made it count in the third T20I.

After India lost Rohit Sharma early, Rahul steadied the ship and batted beautifully. It looked like he was back to his best as he struck his 6th T20I half-century. He scored 52 off 35 and set up the innings for India.

4. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The way Shreyas Iyer batted in this series was very refreshing. There have been occasions in domestic cricket where he’s dominated the spinners and shown his strength. But rarely has he done it in international cricket. Iyer was never known to be a big hitter.

But he did that in this series. He took on the spinners and didn’t let them settle. In fact, he was the six-hitter for India and showed that he can do the job too. In fact, Iyer did something that no one would’ve expected him to – hit the most sixes (8) in the series.

The 24-year-old Mumbaikar scored 108 runs which included a 33-ball 62 which helped India get to a 174 batting first in the third T20I after they lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay. Moreover, Iyer’s strike-rate of 183.05 was the best by any batsman who faced more than 10 balls in the series. Hence, Iyer seems to have nailed in the No. 4 spot in limited-overs cricket for the moment.

5. Mushfiqur Rahim

Mushfiqur Rahim
Mushfiqur Rahim. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Mushfiqur Rahim loves batting against India. Irrespective of the format, he just brings his ‘A’ game to the fore against them. That was on display in the first game when he led Bangladesh to a historic win.

The wicketkeeper-batsman is an underrated player and is often trolled for his tweets and celebrations. However, he silenced all his critics with a fantastic unbeaten 60 as he led Bangladesh to their first-ever T20I win over India. He redeemed himself after the 2016 World T20 game.

However, Rahim would be disappointed that he couldn’t contribute much in the other two games. He could register scores of just four and zero in the next two games. But it’s only for his match-winning knock in the first game that he earns a place in this XI.

6. Soumya Sarkar

Soumya Sarkar of Bangladesh
Soumya Sarkar. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Soumya Sarkar had a pretty decent but a quiet series. No one really took notice of him. He did register a duck in the final T20I but apart from that, he was pretty good throughout the series. With Naim at the top, he didn’t get to open but he adapted well.

Everyone remembers Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten 60 but not a lot of people noticed that Sarkar scored 39 and set the platform. He was looking very good in the second game too. He scored 30 in just 20 balls before he was dismissed.

Moreover, Sarkar also chipped in with some medium pace. He did well as he went at about 7.50 runs an over and also picked up a couple of key wickets in the third T20I.

7. Shivam Dube

Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube. (Photo Source: Twitter)

This is a spot up for debate. There were not too many big performances from the all-rounders in this series. However, there was one performance with the ball in the third T20I that stood out and hence, it’s mainly because of that spell, Shivam Dube makes it to the combined XI.

Dube made his international debut in the first game of the series. But he didn’t really have a great debut as he could score just 1 and gave away nine runs in the three balls he bowled. He had a better game in Rajkot where he bowled two overs and conceded just 12. But there was a lot of responsibility on him in the third T20I.

India played only five bowlers and Dube had to bowl four overs. He remained unbeaten on 9 with the bat first. But then he conceded 23 runs from his first two overs. However, he came back brilliantly to pick up three wickets and complete a terrific turnaround. Dube finished the game with figures of 3/30.

8. Deepak Chahar

Deepak Chahar celebration
Deepak Chahar celebration. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Deepak Chahar was the leader of the Indian pace attack in this series. In the absence of senior bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chahar donned the leader’s role really well. He put his hand up and was the premier bowler for the ‘Men in Blue’.

Every time Rohit Sharma wanted to go back to a pacer, he was looking at Chahar. After picking up a wicket each in the first two games at a good economy rate, Chahar had a record-shattering game in Nagpur. Not only was he India’s best bowler, he broke multiple records in his spell of 6 for 7.

Chahar became the fourth Indian to take a fifer in a T20I. He also became the first Indian (male) to take a hat-trick in the shortest format. Moreover, his 6/7 is the best ever figures in a T20I. Hence, it was a game to remember for Chahar and he finished the series with eight wickets.

9. Shaiful Islam

Shafiul Islam
(Photo Source: Twitter)

Before 2019, Shafiul Islam last played international cricket in 2017. He returned to the Bangladesh side for the ODIs against Sri Lanka before returning to the T20I squad in the tri-series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at home. He did well there and earned a spot for this tour.

The 30-year-old fast bowler has continued to impress. He was Bangladesh’s premier new-ball bowler in the series. He even accounted for Rohit Sharma twice in this series. In the first game, the pacer trapped stand-in Indian skipper LBW before cleaning him up in the third game.

Overall, he finished as Bangladesh’s most successful bowler in the series. He picked up four wickets. Islam was a touch expensive but had a strike-rate of 13.5.

10. Aminul Islam

Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Aminul Islam was one of the finds of the series for Bangladesh. He made his debut against Zimbabwe in September and had impressive figures of 2/18. The young leg-spinner continued that form in India as well.

He was Bangladesh’s premier spinner in the XI. Islam picked up 2/22 in the first game as he applied the brakes in the middle overs. In fact, he was one of Bangladesh’s unsung heroes in that win in the first game. In the second game, when Rohit Sharma went berserk, it was the leggie who showed control and picked both wickets to fall.

He did fail in the last game where he conceded 29 runs from his three overs. However, he finished the series as the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the series – four wickets at an average of 20.

11. Yuzvendra Chahal

Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal
Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo Source: Twitter)

It was a comeback series of sorts for Yuzvendra Chahal. After the World Cup, he was overlooked for a couple of T20I series against West Indies and South Africa. India preferred the likes of Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar ahead of him in those series’.

But Chahal responded really well in this series. He bowled beautifully in the first two games. He should’ve had Mushfiqur Rahim out thrice in the first game but he was unlucky and he could pick just one wicket in India’s loss in that game. But it was his second-wicket over in the second game that turned the tide.

Chahal did go for runs in the third game as he struggled to control the wet ball. But came back strongly to bowl a very good fourth over where he picked up the wicket of Mahmudullah. Thus, he finished the series with four wickets but bowled a lot better than that.

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