Asia Cup 2018: Five unnoticed things from the India-Bangladesh match

India mauled the Bangladeshi Tigers to open the Super Four round of Asia Cup 2018 in style as they registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

Ravindra Jadeja, who made his return to the Indian ODI team after a year-long absence, stunned the opposition with a four-wicket haul. India won the toss and opted to field first. India’s pace bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah struck early and Bangladesh was reeling at 15/2 after 5.1 overs.

Bangladesh's most experienced pair Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim started the repair job but were soon sent back to the pavilion by the returning left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

Bangladesh soon collapsed to 101/7 and it was their captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan’s partnership of 66 runs that carried the nation to a respectable score of 173. R Jadeja captured four wickets while Bumrah and B Kumar picked three wickets each.

Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan began confidently with an opening partnership of 61 runs and set a great platform to complete the chase. Rohit was always in complete control of the game and was present till the very end to take India over the finishing line. Here are five things which may have gone unnoticed from the match:

#1. India’s spin bowling variety

All-rounder Hardik Pandya suffered from an acute back injury in the last match against Pakistan and was sidelined from the tournament. Ravindra Jadeja was selected as his replacement in today’s match against Bangladesh and that added another dimension in India’s bowling armory.

The Indian bowling attack already had a right-arm leg-spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal, a left-arm leg-spinner in Kuldeep Yadav and a right-arm off-spinner in Kedar Jadhav. The inclusion of a left-arm spinner completed all the varieties possible in four spin bowlers.

While Chahal and Kuldeep have been an integral part of India’s limited overs setup, Ravindra Jadeja made his return to the Indian team after a gap of 442 days. The left-arm spinner starred with splendid bowling figures of 4/29 from his 10 overs.

#2. Bangladesh and their dot ball problem

Playing against the mighty bowling attack of India, the Bangladeshi batsman had to bat cleverly and find the run-scoring opportunities rather than relying on the boundary balls. The batting team failed to find the boundaries and could not rotate the strike either.

Bangladesh’s innings of 173 runs from 295 balls today included 191 dot balls which brings the dot ball percentage of their innings to 64.74. They were able to hit only 11 boundaries and were constantly under pressure.

Ravindra Jadeja bowled as many as 43 dot balls while Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered 41 dot balls. Bangladesh suffered in this department in the last match against Afghanistan as well. When they were all out for 119 runs in 42.1 overs, Bangladeshi batsmen faced 171 dot balls amounting to the percentage of 67.58.

#3. Shikhar Dhawan’s catching record

India’s opener Shikhar Dhawan established a new catching record today as he held on to four catches while stationed in the outfield. This is a record number of catches in a single innings for a non-wicket keeper in Asia Cup history.

Dhawan’s first catch came his way while fielding at the first slip as Bumrah forced Nazmul Hossain to edge an outside off-stump ball. The left-hander then grabbed one at square leg to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan.

Dhawan completed his third and fourth catches while fielding at deep midwicket and cover respectively. While four wicketkeepers including MS Dhoni have taken four catches in an Asia Cup encounter; Dhawan became the first fielder to complete the landmark.

Previously Mohammad Kaif and Pragyan Ojha had taken as many as three catches in an Asia Cup game.

#4. Rohit Sharma’s solidity against Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma and Bangladesh have never been far from controversy. Since the no-ball incident in the World Cup 2015, a lot of emotions have been brewing between the two. Rohit’s failures against the left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rehman were also a talking point.

The Indian opener has an impressive overall batting record against the neighboring nation and it has improved drastically since the World Cup 2015 encounter at Melbourne. Rohit had scored only 73 runs in his first five matches against Bangladesh and then managed a brilliant 137 in the World Cup.

Today, Rohit was at ease against the Bangladeshi bowling attack. He was especially severe on Shakib Al Hasan as he smacked the left-arm spinner for three mammoth sixes. Today’s 83 not out was Rohit’s third half-century in ODIs against Bangladesh.

#5. India’s domination over Bangladesh

A few losses in Bangladesh against Bangladesh in ODIs may promote a vision that the underdog has been beating the Indian team frequently in the 50-over format. This has definitely not been the case when the two teams confront each other at neutral venues.

In nine matches, including the one played today, India has defeated Bangladesh eight times. The lone loss for India in the neutral conditions was the famous defeat in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where Tamim Iqbal led Bangladesh to a historic win in West Indies.

Even when it comes to the Asia Cup, India has managed to dominate Bangladesh in all the eleven encounters played except one. India’s only loss to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup was in 2012 at Dhaka where the hosts managed to chase 290 runs.