Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra lauded the Indian team after their commanding seven-wicket win against Bangladesh at the New Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, Gwalior on Sunday. The hosts won with 49 balls to spare and came up with a collective effort.
After electing to field first, India was able bundle out the Tigers at 127 as Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy bagged three wickets apiece. Bangladesh batters could not get going on a slow deck and found run-scoring difficult as they could not stitch together a partnership.
Singh returned with figures of 3-14 whereas Chakravarthy bagged 3-31 in his four-over spell. Furthermore, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Yadav and Washington Sundar bagged one wicket each.
On the other hand, Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav scored 29 runs apiece whereas Hardik Pandya added the finishing touches with a 16-ball 39.
“Decimate, dominate, they were disposed of. Bangladesh guys – what are you doing, what sort of cricket do you play? You didn’t even come close. This wasn’t a match but a mismatch. India have gone 1-0 ahead. Whoever bowled picked up wickets, and whoever had a bat in his hands hit,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Meanwhile, Chopra likened Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya with Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, who won a silver medal in the 10 m air pistol mixed team event with his teammate Şevval İlayda Tarhan.
“Do you remember the Turkish shooter, who had a hand in his pocket in the Olympics? Hardik Pandya was also similar. What swag and attitude. That just defined everything for me. The way he played that (no-look) shot and stood there and looked (at the bowler), there was West Indian swag in that, and the team’s swagger,” Chopra elaborated.
Chopra lauded the Indian batters for batting aggressively and chasing down the target of 128 in only 11.5 overs.
“There was actually one thing in that. The Indian team are playing like that because, sorry Bangladesh, due respect, but you are not challenging us. You are playing sub-standard cricket. You are playing extremely mediocre cricket. So when you start challenging yourself, you play cricket like this because whoever came, was hitting,” he said.
Chopra showered praise on the Indian team for playing like World champions against Bangladesh.
“This team are the world champions and they played like world champions. They showed Bangladesh the mirror, that you are the third-best or fourth-best team in Asia at the moment. The evolution and growth of your cricket was not seen at all. I am not just saying that one match has been like that,” he said.
The second match of the series will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday.
