The Indian team lost a closely fought encounter against the host Bangladesh. After the loss during the post-match presentation, Indian captain Rohit Sharam said we were 30 to 40 runs short, and if we had scored that much, the result could be different.
But Indian legend batter Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t seem to agree with captain Rohit Sharma. Gavaskar said, don’t say if this had happened, we could have won. The reality is we were winning the match on this target only if that magical partnership for the 10th wicket would not happen. This is a totally different thing. We were put in that commanding situation only because of our bowler’s exceptional performance. On this track, we were not 30 to 40 runs short but, in reality, we were short 70 to 80 runs, and the batters need to take some responsibility in the next match; otherwise, against a team like Bangladesh, if you give such a mere target of 186 runs in 50 overs, then they will chase it 9 out of 10 times.
Talking to the sony sports channel, Gavaskar said ” “You can’t say that was it. Because yes, I think that was the last wicket. That should have made the match over. But the fact that India scored 186, I think you are going to look at that as well. I think India didn’t score 70-80 more runs is the reason why they lost”.
Defending the target of a mere 186 runs, Indian bowlers bowled significantly well up front, and at one moment, Bangladesh was 136/9. It seemed that the Indian team was in a commanding position. But, thanks to the magical 10th wicket 52-run partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman, the host won this match. For India, Siraj was the star performer with the ball by scalping three wickets in his quota of 10 overs, and he was well supported by Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Sen from the other end, who took two wickets each.
“The bowlers did wonderfully well, to get themselves in a position where they were 136-9. And then Mehidy Hasan Miraj came, they had a bit of luck with that drop catch, but he played really well. He played sensibly. They took the attack to the opposition and played some bold shots,” Gavaskar added.
He also pointed out that, in ODIs, the Bangladesh team has a good bunch of players, and for them, scores like 186 runs will not put any pressure in 50 over format, and they will be able to chase such targets 9 out of 10 times with ease.
“When you are asked to chase less than 4 runs an over. Like Bangladesh was asked to chase, automatically, the pressure comes down. Bangladesh made it difficult for themselves by playing ultra cautiously. That’s what got them into trouble.”
Bangladesh now has a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second match to be played at the same venue on Wednesday.
