Asia Cup: Shubman Gill’s fiery 121 not enough as Bangladesh take India scalp

Colombo, September 15

Shubman Gill gave an awesome display of his talent while registering his fifth ODI hundred but Bangladesh managed to eke out an unexpected six-run win over India in an Asia Cup Super Four match here today.

Gill’s 121 off 133 balls was exceptional. But it was not enough to drag India past Bangladesh’s 265/8, built around fifties by Shakib Al Hasan (80) and Towhid Hridoy (54) after they were put in to bat. India were bowled out for 259.

1 Gill became the first player to cross the 1,000-run mark in ODIs this year

Axar Patel (42 off 34 balls) tried to bring India back into the game with some heavy blows, but it never was enough.

But in the tournament’s context, the result did not matter as India had already entered the final. They will face Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The night belonged to Gill, despite the result.

Gill’s batting is all about timing and minimalism. He pulls but not with the flourish of Rohit Sharma, and he drives but not with the flair of Virat Kohli. But Gill lends his own aesthetics and grace to his game.

As Kohli and Hardik Pandya were among the five rested players, India needed heftier contributions from captain Sharma and the rest of the batters.

India also gave a break to pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. “We wanted to give some game time to the guys, keeping the bigger picture in mind. Not compromising on how we wanted to play this game. We wanted to get in some players who are likely to play the World Cup,” Sharma said after the match.

Brief scores: Bangladesh: 265/8 in 50 overs (Shakib 80, Hridoy 54; Thakur 3/65); India: 259 all out in 49.5 overs (Gill 121, Axar 42; Rahman 3/50).