"Hint Of Mahendra Singh Dhoni In His Captaincy", Irfan Pathan Lauds Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah, Bangladesh captain, had a dream start to the tour of India as he managed to end the hosts' unbeaten streak against Bangladesh in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) of the three-match series in Delhi. After losing eight T20I matches against India, Bangladesh finally managed to get one result in their favour. Impressed by Mahmudullah's captaincy skills, Irfan Pathan, India all-rounder, compared the Bangladesh skipper with former India captain MS Dhoni. "When you win a match against one of the best teams in the world, it helps in boosting your confidence and Mahmudullah had shown great qualities of a captain including the changes he made during the match," Irfan Pathan said.

"There was a hint of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his captaincy as he also used part-time bowlers after the power play which is a strategy often used by Dhoni," Irfan Pathan added.

Bangladesh's momentum was halted in the second match as Rohit Sharma single-handedly swung the game in India's favour. Rohit scored 85 off just 43 deliveries to help India level the series with a game left.

Harbhajan Singh, India off-spinner, reckons that if Bangladesh want to register their first-ever T20I series win over India, they will be hoping for a good show with the bat from their wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim.

"Mushfiqur Rahim is a player with lot of experience, his ability to play both spin and pace bowling is great and he has the maximum responsibility in the Bangladesh squad in terms of batting which gives him an edge over Mahmudullah who is also a good player for the Bangladesh team," Harbhajan Singh said.

Rahim remained unbeaten on 60 in the first T20I in Delhi as Bangladesh recorded their first-ever T20I win over India.

The final T20I is scheduled to played in Nagpur on Sunday.

(With IANS inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Bangladesh Cricket Team Mahmudullah Irfan Pathan MS Dhoni India vs Bangladesh Cricket