Pant''s fifty, Pandya''s cameo lead India to 182/5 against Bangladesh in warm-up match

New York, Rishabh Pant reinforced his claim for a berth in India’s playing 11 for the T20 World Cup as the first-choice wicketkeeper batter when he made a flowing fifty to guide his side to 182 for five against Bangladesh in a warm-up match here on Saturday.

Pant, who was making his India comeback after that horrific car accident in December 2022, retired after making 53 on a slightly slow pitch.

But the knock has certainly given him an edge over Sanju Samson in the perceived competition for the wicketkeeper-batter slot.

Samson too played the match as opener along with skipper Rohit Sharma as Virat Kohli, who was expected to open, skipped the match after he arrived here only on Friday.

However, Samson, who had a fine run in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals, was trapped in front of the wicket for a 6-ball 1 by left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam.

There were also handy contributions by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya as India moved to a competitive total despite not having any single big partnership in their innings.

But the primary architect of that fighting total was Pant.

Pant, who returned to competitive cricket during the IPL 2024, had shown excellent touch for Delhi Capitals while making 287 runs from 13 matches with three fifties and at a strike-rate of 155.

The left-hander continued his fine touch here too, carting Bangladesh bowlers around.

There were those typical Pant shots, which are hard to describe, such as a stand-still flick off Sowmya Sarkar to fine-leg for a boundary or that one-handed six off off-spinner Mahmudullah Riyaz.

Pant, who smashed Shakib Al Hasan for two successive sixes, brought his fifty in 32 balls with a boundary off Shakib before walking back to the pavilion.

Shivam Dube, who was dropped on four, could not exploit the let-off and was dismissed for a 16-ball 14 and at that stage India were 130 for four after 14.4 overs.

India were in need of some acceleration and Pandya provided just that. Pandya, who was dropped on 26, slammed three consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam which were a treat to watch for their power and neat execution.

His innings and confidence might have immensely pleased the team management and himself after a modest outing as Mumbai Indians’ captain in a season where he was subjected to intense professional and personal scrutiny.

Bangladesh also suffered an early scare as Islam walked off just before bowling the final ball of the innings, as Tanzim Hasan completed the over.

Now, it’s over to Indian bowlers to tick a few boxes ahead of their World Cup opener against Ireland on June 5 here.

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