Bangladesh end India tour winless after another crushing defeat

The format has changed, the venue has changed, and with the format, the players have also changed. But what hasn't changed during Bangladesh's tour of India is their misfortune. After a disappointing batting performance, Bangladesh were whitewashed in the two-match Test series.

The disappointment in the T20 series was even worse. In the third and final match, their frustrations hit a new low. Bangladesh suffered another heavy defeat, this time due to dismal bowling, leading to a whitewash in quick succession. Without a single win, Najmul Hossain Shanto's team ended their Indian tour.

On Saturday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, Bangladesh lost by a staggering 133 runs to Suryakumar Yadav's India in the final T20I of the series. This marks Bangladesh's biggest loss in T20I history in terms of runs, eclipsing their previous largest defeat of 104 runs against South Africa. Having already lost the Test series 2-0, Bangladesh went down 3-0 in the T20I series as well. This marks the 11th time Bangladesh has been whitewashed in a multi-match T20I series, though they have managed to whitewash their opponents five times in this format.

India, powered by centurion Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag, and Hardik Pandya, posted a massive total of 297, the highest-ever team total in T20Is for India and also the highest against Bangladesh. Despite a faster start compared to the previous two matches, Bangladesh fell well short, finishing their innings at 164 for 7, their highest total in the series. Only Towhid Hridoy and Liton Das managed to score meaningful runs, with both reaching half-centuries.

In their chase of the massive target, Bangladesh tried to start aggressively but were unsuccessful. Parvez Hossain Emon was caught off Mayank Yadav on the first ball of the innings. Despite the early wicket, Bangladesh stuck to their attacking approach, but it didn't pay off. Tanzid Hasan Tamim and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto couldn't keep up with the required run rate, and their partnership didn't flourish either.

Tanzid was dismissed for 15 off 12 balls, while Shanto fell for 14 off 11 balls. Bangladesh scored 59 runs during the powerplay. Liton Das and Towhid Hridoy then built a partnership of 38 runs for the fourth wicket, keeping Bangladesh somewhat in the game. However, Liton's departure after scoring 42 off 25 balls left Hridoy to fight alone. Hridoy remained unbeaten with 63 off 42 balls, including five fours and three sixes. Veteran Mahmudullah Riyad, playing his final T20I, managed just 8 runs off 9 balls. Ravi Bishnoi took 3 wickets for 30 runs, while Mayank Yadav claimed 2 for 32. Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy took one wicket each.

Earlier, India's innings got off to a flying start, with Sanju Samson hitting four consecutive boundaries off Taskin Ahmed. Despite losing Abhishek Sharma early on, caught by Sheikh Mahedi off Tanzim Hasan Sakib, India never looked back. Sanju Samson and captain Suryakumar Yadav went on to punish Bangladesh's bowlers, scoring 82 runs in the powerplay. Samson reached his half-century in just 22 balls, the fastest for India against Bangladesh in T20Is. Suryakumar followed suit with a fifty off 23 balls.

Samson's blitz continued as he smashed leg-spinner Rishad for five consecutive sixes in the tenth over, putting India at 152 for 1 after 10 overs. He brought up his maiden T20I century off 40 balls, the second-fastest by an Indian and the tenth-fastest in the format's history. Samson was eventually dismissed for 111 off 47 balls, a career-best T20I knock, and India's third-highest second-wicket partnership with Suryakumar ended at 173.

After Samson's dismissal, Suryakumar departed soon after for 75 off 35 balls, but the onslaught didn't stop. Riyan Parag and Hardik Pandya added 70 runs off 26 balls for the fourth wicket, with Parag smashing 34 off 13 balls and Pandya contributing a blistering 47 off 18 balls. Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 8 as India finished at 297 for 4.

None of Bangladesh's bowlers could contain India's batters, with all having an economy rate above 10. Tanzim took 3 wickets but conceded 66 runs, the most by any Bangladeshi bowler in T20Is. Taskin Ahmed gave away 51 runs in his four overs, while Mustafizur Rahman conceded 52 runs in his four overs for one wicket. Mahmudullah, in his final T20I appearance, took 1 for 26 in 2 overs.

Bangladesh now returns home from a winless tour, with much to reflect upon after back-to-back whitewashes.