Virender Sehwag Emerged As India’s Unlikely Bowling Hero With His First Four-Wicket Haul
India got a perfect start when they defeated Bangladesh by six wickets. The team also made bonus point on Wednesday. At a strikingly empty Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Virender Sehwag emerged as India’s unlikely bowling hero with his first four-wicket haul, while his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir (82) struck his 20th ODI half-century as India cruised to a facile win.
India had a modest total to chase and they overwhelmed the target with 19.2 overs to spare to collect a bonus point from this resounding victory, earlier they have skittled out Bangladesh for a meager 167 inside 35 overs. To qualify for the June 24 final the Indians will have to beat either Pakistan or Srilanka that too, by a convincing margin.
In the 15th over, India injected artificial life into the lop-sided match when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fell to successive deliveries from Shakib Al Hasan. Skipper Mahender Singh Dhoni (38 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (82) ensured that four-time champions sailed home without much ado. Sehwag failed to fire as a batsman as he only scored 11 runs from 14 balls but he showed that he could be employed as an off-break bowler when either Ravindra Jadeja or Harbhajan Singh have a lean day.
As Dhoni desperately looking for a part-time bowler as Ashish Nehra was injured, at this crucial moment Sehwag struck successive blows to demolish Bangladesh. Bangladesh disappointed as a batting unit, who took time off from their series against England to participate in the four nation cup. The bowling of Zaheer Khan who was moving the ball disconcertingly to the bewilderment of Mohammad Ashraful and Kayes.