In their only warm-up game ahead of this T20 World Cup, Team India would be pleased particularly with the form of Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh.

The practice game against Bangladesh in New York on Saturday was the first time the keeper-batter wore the India jersey since the December 2022 Test against the same opposition before his horrific car accident.

Coming in at No.3, Pant hit a 32-ball 53 before retiring out, playing a big part in India posting 182/5 after winning the toss. Thereafter, left-arm pacer Arshdeep (2/12) got a fair amount of movement with the new ball to hurt Bangladesh’s top order before his pace colleagues Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and left-arm spinner Axar Patel also registered their names in the wickets column.

Shivam Dube (2/13), not having a great time with the bat (14 off 16 balls), also got a chance to bowl and struck twice as India won the match comfortably by 60 runs.

How much this practice game counts for India is tough to say as this Bangladesh side was hammered twice in a row by minnows United States not many days ago. However, the time out in the middle that skipper Rohit Sharma and Co. had gave them an idea of the conditions they will have to deal with when they begin their Cup campaign against Ireland on Wednesday. The drop-in pitch seemed two-paced at times with the ball not quite coming on to the bat on quite a few occasions.

But what’s good for India is that barring Virat Kohli, who couldn’t take part in this game for having joined the squad on Friday (as Rohit said at the toss) and Yashasvi Jaiswal — who wasn’t included — all their other established batters got a chance to bat, while the regular bowlers all bowled at least an over each.

The only disappointment would be Sanju Samson’s inability to make use of the chance after getting to open alongside captain Rohit.

Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 18 balls), batting at No.4, got a decent batting practice and so did all-rounder Hardik Pandya (40 not out off 23 balls), following a forgettable IPL.

Going back to Pant, he took his time to settle down, but with three sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the last over of the Powerplay, Pant was in his elements.

Brief scores: India 182/5 in 20 ovs (R. Pant 53 retd. hurt, H. Pandya 40 n.o.). Bangladesh 122/9 in 20 ovs (A. Singh 2/12, S. Dube 2/13, J. Bumrah 1/12). India won by 60 runs.