India is currently battling it out with Bangladesh to secure a win in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday (November 3).
This match is also the 1000th T20 international match to be played in the history of the game.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah upon winning the toss sent the home side to bat first in a smog cover Delhi. However, this was also a memorable day for Mumbai cricketer Shivam Dube as he earned his debut T20I cap from today's captain Rohit Sharma and becomes the 82nd cricketer to play for the "Men In Blue" in the shortest format of the game.
During toss, Rohit Sharma said: “This (series) gives us an opportunity to test out few players from the domestic circuit who have done well. It’s their best chance to grab the opportunity."
"We are trying to stick with the same combination that we have had in this part of the world. We have three spinners, two medium pacers and we have the debutant Shivam Dube who gives us the extra choice in the middle where he can bowl a few overs.”
Shivam's record with the bat in the Ranji Trophy and in the Mumbai Premier League has been excellent too, hitting five sixes twice in an over for his side. He also smashed 118-run off 57 balls against Karnataka too.
“If you see, in our earlier T20 team, we had Hardik Pandya. Then we tried Vijay Shankar. All of us, along with captain Rohit (Sharma), felt that for the role Shivam Dube fits in much better. He bats aggressively and his performances in the India ‘A’ series in West Indies and also against South Africa ‘A’ in the One-dayers was phenomenal. He has gone up by leaps and bounds with regards to his skill set and we are very much convinced about him,” national selector MSK Prasad said about him.
But his debut did not go as planned as the 26-year-old was dismissed for just 1-run after a brilliant caught and bowled effort from Afif Hossain on the night as India managed to put up 148/6 after 20 overs.
