3 Indian players who flopped in the 3rd ODI vs Bangladesh
After losing the first two ODIs to concede the series, Team India managed a consolation win against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Chattogram on Saturday, December 10.
Ishan Kishan led the way with a stunning double hundred, while Virat Kohli joined in on the fun with his first ODI ton since August 2019. All six bowlers made decent contributions as well as the Men in Blue defeated the hosts by a record 227 runs.
However, others failed to deliver. On that note, here are three Indian players who flopped in the third ODI against Bangladesh.
#3 KL Rahul
India's stand-in skipper had a good outing collectively in Chattogram as his team recorded a massive win, but he couldn't contribute much with the bat for the second game running.
KL Rahul walked in to bat in the 39th over at the fall of Shreyas Iyer's wicket and had the opportunity to have some fun in the middle in the last 10 overs of the innings. But he was harried by Ebadot Hossain, who hit him on the body early in his innings.
Rahul responded by finding the midwicket boundary with a pull, but the bowler had the last laugh. Ebadot sent down a fiery yorker that castled India's No. 5 as he dismissed the batter for the second time in the series.
#2 Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer had an even better platform than Rahul to build on. The consistent batter found himself in the middle with the score reading 305/2 and had a set Virat Kohli for company.
However, Shreyas endured a difficult six-ball stay. The Bangladesh bowlers immediately targeted his body, and he uncomfortably negotiated a few deliveries before deciding to put his foot on the pedal.
Shreyas tried to loft Ebadot over cover but couldn't get under the ball and only managed to find Bangladesh skipper Litton Das in a catching position. He walked back disappointed for 3, having squandered a chance to add some more weight to his superb recent record in ODIs.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan
While Shreyas' dismissal was excusable due to the situation he was in, Shikhar Dhawan's wasn't. The southpaw would be kicking himself for having missed out on a glorious opportunity to silence some of his critics with a big knock on what was a beautiful pitch to bat on in Chattogram.
Dhawan was trapped in front by Mehidy Hasan Miraz off the first ball of the fifth over, with the third umpire deciding that it was pad first. The veteran batter thereby recorded his third single-digit score of the series and had to watch from the dugout as Kishan and Kohli made merry.
Dhawan might just have fallen behind the likes of Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kishan in the pecking order for openers. It wouldn't be a stretch to claim that there's a chance he may not play international cricket for India again.