‘Miraz went to Dhaka…’: Shastri, Tamim’s epic reaction to Pandya’s flying bat

India have started their three-match T20I series against Bangladesh with an utterly comprehensive win in the first match. Suryakumar Yadav’s men bowled Bangladesh out for 127 runs and then chased that target down in just 11.5 overs. The hosts were aggressive from the beginning, with Suryakumar first driving the chase and Hardik Pandya then finishing it.
Pandya finished unbeaten on 39 off just 16 balls, hitting back-to-back fours and a six off what turned out to be the last three balls of the match to get India over the line. The two fours somewhat summed up India’s day, with the first one being hit almost nonchalantly and the second going to the boundary despite the fact that Pandya lost his bat.
Pandya swung hard towards the leg side off the fourth ball of the 12th over from from Tamim Iqbal. He ended up slicing it through point and short third man and Pandya’s reaction showed that he had no idea where the ball was, or his bat either for that matter. For the willow had flown out of his hands and ended up actually going the way he intended to hit the ball.
“The bat’s gone somewhere the ball’s gone to the boundary, it’s all happening here in Gwalior, two needed! The bat was going towards London, the ball’s disappeared towards Paris. It’s all happening here,” said former India head coach Ravi Shastri in the commentary box. The incident had confused everyone and fielder Mehidy Hasan Miraz also didn’t seem to spot that the ball had gone past him until it was too late. “And Miraz went to Dhaka!” said Shastri’s co-commentator and former Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal.
Bangladesh hardly ever looked capable of providing a fight. Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets each while debutant Mayank Yadav returned figures of 1/21 as India bowled out Bangladesh for 127 runs. Arshdeep took two wickets in his first two overs as Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bowl first. Bangladesh couldn’t really get away in the powerplay and were 40/2 at the end of it. Mayank started his international career by bowling a maiden in the sixth over of the innings. He then dismissed Mahmudullah with the second ball of his next over.
Abhishek Sharma got India off to a flying start in the chase, smashing 16 in seven balls before a mix-up with opening partner Sanju Samson led to his dismissal in the second over. Samson himself scored 29 in 19 balls before falling in the eighth over. His was the last Indian wicket to fall. Captin Suryakumar was at his destructive best, smashng three sixes and two fours in his 14-ball 29.