After defeating Hong Kong Kong and Pakistan in the group stage, Team India led by Rohit Sharma thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets in the first Super Four match of the Asia Cup 2018 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Men in Blue almost sided Bangladesh from the match within 15 overs as their top-order was blown away by a disciplined bowling. Bangladesh lost five of their batsmen for 65 runs, which also included Shakib Al Hasan’s wicket.
Shakib’s wicket was special for India as he was trapped by former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s smart work.
In the 10th over, Ravindra Jadeja was introduced into the attack by skipper Rohit Sharma and Shakib welcomed the Indian all-rounder by a couple of boundaries.
However, after Shakib scored a few boundaries on Jadeja’s bowling, Dhoni asked Rohit to move Shikhar Dhawan to square leg from slip region.
The wicket-keeper also advised Jadeja to bowl the next delivery a bit slower and at a similar length to induce the same shot off the batsman. And on the next bowl, Shakib played the same shot straight into the hands of Dhawan, who made no mistake in grabbing the ball.
After Shakib’s dismissal, IPL franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) took to micro-blogging site Twitter to applaud their captain Rohit Sharma for his brilliant captaincy.
“GONE! Smart captaincy from Rohit Sharma who moves Dhawan to square leg citing Shakib’s intentions. Jadeja sticks to his plan and forces Shakib to sweep, who holes out to Dhawan. Brilliant from India!” the tweet read.
GONE!
Smart captaincy from Rohit Sharma who moves Dhawan to square leg citing Shakib's intentions. Jadeja sticks to his plan and forces Shakib to sweep, who holes out to Dhawan. Brilliant from India!
🇧🇩 – 42/3 (9.4)#CricketMeriJaan #INDvBAN
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) September 21, 2018
However, it was Dhoni who suggested Rohit to change the field and the official Twitter handle of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) didn’t forget to let their IPL rivals know about the same.
“Reading batsman’s brain from behind the stumps! Thala Mastermind! #WhistlePodu #INDvBAN,” their tweet read as they explained the scenario in pictures smartly.
Reading batsman's brain from behind the stumps! Thala Mastermind! #WhistlePodu #INDvBAN 💛🦁 pic.twitter.com/2eK1ZBsKNf
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) September 21, 2018
