Indian cricket team checked the all boxes during their only T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up game against Bangladesh in New York on Saturday, June 1. India pulled off an impressive all-round performance to register a big 60-run win while defending an 182 total at New York's Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Virat Kohli was given the rest while Yashasvi Jaiswal was surprisingly left out. Sanju Samson opened an innings with Rohit Sharma but was not able to make an impact. Rishabh Pant was promoted to the no.3 role and the wicketkeeper batter scored a brilliant unbeaten fifty to make his successful return to India colours.
Rishabh's fifty and Hardik Pandya's unbeaten 40 runs helped India post a challenging total. The majority of the batters managed to get some game time to get familiar with the playing conditions at the brand-new ground where India will play their first three group-stage matches.
Indian skipper Rohit revealed his happiness with India's performance after the game and said that they got everything they wanted from the practice match. Rohit added that it as important getting used to new conditions at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
"Just to give him an opportunity," Rohit said after the match. "We have not really nailed down what the batting unit will look like. Even the bowlers did pretty well. All in all happy with how things went. Quite happy with how things went. Pretty much got what we wanted from the game. Like I said at the toss, it was important to get used to the conditions. New venue, new ground, drop-in pitch - important to get used to it and we managed pretty well."
Rohit also praised Arshdeep Singh's impactful spell as the left-arm pacer bagged two early wickets to ensure a big win for India.
"He has shown us, in whatever games he has played, he has the skills up-front," Rohit added. "He has got a very good skill-set (at the death too). We saw it today. He bowled pretty well, swung the ball up front, and then bowled one at the backend. We have got 15 good players here. We have to see what the conditions are and then see what combination is best for us."
Indian cricket team will next face Ireland in their first game in the T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday, June 5 and clash against Pakistan on Sunday, June 9.
