The victory at Chinnaswamy Stadium must now propel Indian hopes. It was hard-earned I know and should prepare the team well for the crucial challenge against Australia assuming Steve Smith's team overcomes Pakistan.

If they do, the match at Mohali then assumes knock-out proportions and nothing can be more exciting I guess. The tournament needed such a platform to make the T20 the spectacle that this generation of cricket lovers has come to enjoy.

Many hearts in the audience must have beaten faster as India allowed the challenge to grow manifold before winning by one run. The Indian spinners were simply outstanding and Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick. His fourth over was as good as you would ever get to see, coming as it did when so much was at stake. He teased and tormented the batsmen with his clever change of line and length and proved what an asset he is to the team in all formats.

Lack of experience was evident as Bangladesh made a brave attempt. I would pat Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his excellent handling of the situation. He used the slow bowlers tactically and placed his faith in young Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya to deliver in the death overs not to forget the fielding by Ravindra Jadeja. And what a finish it was! Dhoni scampering to break the stumps and pulling off a stunning win that would haunt Bangladesh for a long time. It was heartbreaking for Mashrafe Mortaza's boys but they have none to blame. Getting out to over-ambitious shots when a sensible one would have fetched them the winning runs is a lesson that will help them face such situations better in times to come.

Indian cricket stood to gain immensely from the tremendous performance put up by Bumrah and Pandya. These two stars were born on a wonderful night for Dhoni's determined team.

The tension was palpable right through the match. The toss allowed India the first strike on a pitch which, surprisingly, was a bit slow. Not to the liking of the Indian openers who both love it when the ball comes on nicely.

It was not a huge task for Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to innovate. After all India has a pretty strong batting line up. Maybe the batsmen wanted to take their time to come to terms with the bowling and the wicket. The short boundaries were enticing no doubt and the Indian openers realised only in the sixth over how to deal with the bowling. The two sixes off Mustafizur Rehman, once each by Rohit and Shikhar, to me signified the approach that had to be adopted from the word go. True the Indians had an eye on the statistics because the run-rate is bound to come into the picture in the later stages.

The Bangladesh fielding had a question mark in the preceding matches but not their tactics in this fantastic match. The first six overs saw five Bangladesh bowlers in action and that was a smart move.

The onus obviously shifted to the batsmen since the variety in the Bangladesh attack kept them on their toes. The Power-Play stage had to be exploited and I was not surprised when the openers created pressure on themselves and eventually succumbed in their effort to take early charge.

The two dismissals hurt India and it was again Virat Kohli versus the opposition. How often have we seen such a situation? He was up against a bowler of Shakib-al Hasan's class and I enjoyed their contest. Virat had to deal with a spinner who is one of the best slow bowlers in contemporary cricket and Not many can match Shakib in control and accuracy as he explores every inch of the crease and the angles that he manages makes him a brilliant bowler indeed.

Bangladesh made things hard for India and set up an engaging battle. It was a good move to promote Pandya but the intensity was tough to maintain. A slog here and slog there brought some desperate runs and India slowly lost the plot. To me, it was important how Suresh Raina shouldered the responsibility since he had the experience to bat on such a wicket. He fell short of my expectations. India were guilty of not capitalising on some fiery starts a couple of batsmen got.

Full marks to the Bangladesh bowlers for their disciplined show when up against batsmen like Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. The bowlers bowled to their field and this was the best feature of Bangladesh's performance in the first half of the match.

In a tight situation, you often falter when trying to stick to a plan but Bangladesh, to man, were confidence personified. They did not lose their composure and won many admirers despite the sensational comeback by India from the brink.

Pitch Solution R