IND vs BAN 2022: "Not even a single yorker bowled with 50 runs to get" - Fans slam Men in Blue's death bowling in 1st ODI
Team India suffered a narrow one-wicket defeat in the first ODI of their 3-match series against Bangladesh, on Sunday, 4th December. The Indian batters struggled and could only score 186 on a wicket which seemed tough for batting.
KL Rahul batted brilliantly and scored a half-century. However, his fifty went in vain as the Indian bowlers could not take the last wicket of the home team.
A splendid bowling performance from Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar helped India reduce Bangladesh to 136/9 in 39.3 overs. With 51 runs left to chase, Bangladesh were on the verge of defeat.
The no. 11 batter Mustafizur Rahman was on the pitch and wasn't expected to hang around for long. However, the Men in Blue failed to break the 10th-wicket stand. Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz played a match-winning innings of 38 from 39 balls and saw his team through.
Team India's bowling and fielding were not the best when Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were batting in the middle. KL Rahul dropped a simple catch, and Washington Sundar missed one too.
Here's how the Indian fans on Twitter reacted to the performance from the bowlers in the final phase of the game:
Bangladesh win 1st ODI vs. India through stunning last-wicket partnership
After Bangladesh lost their ninth wicket, Mustafizur held one end up and scored 10 runs from 11 deliveries. He and Mehidy stitched together an unbeaten partnership of 51 runs for the 10th wicket to guide Bangladesh to a one-wicket win.
Conceding too many runs against tailenders has been a long-standing problem for India. In the past, they have lost some matches due to this very reason, and now, even in ODIs, the Indian bowlers are facing this issue.
Skipper Rohit Sharma was still happy with his bowlers and blamed the batters for the team's defeat. Here's what he said at the post-match presentation:
"It was a very close game. We did pretty well to come back into that position. We didn't bat well. 184 wasn't good enough. We bowled pretty well and kept them under pressure but they held their nerves to get the required runs at the backend. If you look back to how we bowled from ball one, it was good."
With a series loss against New Zealand in the previous series, the Indian team badly needs a win in this ODI series. However, the Bangladesh team won't let that happen easily.