"The Indian team might be extremely disappointed with themselves" - Ajay Jadeja

Ajay Jadeja feels Team India might be extremely disappointed with themselves and cannot blame bad luck for their defeats in the first two ODIs against Bangladesh.

The Men in Blue suffered a narrow five-run loss in the second ODI in Mirpur on Wednesday, December 7. The reversal came on the back of a one-wicket loss in the first game at the same venue, with the two defeats giving the Tigers an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Jadeja was asked whether the Indian team was going through bad times, considering they suffered a spate of injuries and lost both games after coming close, to which he responded:

"I am with you but I will also say that you need good times if one team is weaker than the other. You are so superior that even despite the bad times, you are close, so the slight misses are the problem. The Indian team might be extremely disappointed with themselves."

Jadeja reckons Rohit Sharma and Co. will be more peeved about Wednesday's loss. The former Indian skipper reasoned:

"If you see the ability and quality of this team, whether it is batting or bowling, they don't lack anywhere. You come in a winning situation in every match despite not playing well. The last match you had almost won, that was rare, but they will probably be more disappointed today. The first time you don't know and your leg goes into the ditch."

An unbroken 51-run last-wicket partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman denied India a win in the first game. The Indian bowlers allowed the hosts to set a 272-run target in the second ODI after having reduced them to 69/6 at one stage.

"It only became close in the end" - Ajay Jadeja

Rohit Sharma's heroics almost pulled off an improbable win for India. [P/C: BCCI/Twitter]

Jadeja believes poor performance rather than misfortune was responsible for India's defeat. He explained:

"They didn't play well, I wouldn't say bad times. It might have gone close in numbers but it only became close in the end. You allowed that total to be scored after reducing them to 69/6, so you didn't play well there, there is no doubt about that."

69/6 to 271/7! What a recovery from Bangladesh led by that man Mehidy again along with Mahmudullah! Mehidy has come of age in this series 👏🏽 #BANvIND https://t.co/o89KuPQh7H

The cricketer-turned-commentator feels the Indian batters have themselves to blame for their failure to chase down the target, observing:

"Then when you got to bat, you were in trouble. From there you had such a good partnership and you were only responsible for that partnership being broken. In the end, it seems that it is bad times. It is not bad times, we are playing badly."

Resilient 5️⃣0️⃣s from Shreyas, Rohit and Axar go in vain as 🇧🇩 emerge victorious in a thriller to take an unassailable lead 🥲

🫡 to skipper Rohit for that breath-taking effort at the end, hoping he's fine too 🙏

#BANvIND https://t.co/AdBMPynoGx

Shreyas Iyer (82) and Axar Patel (56) stitched together a 107-run partnership for the fifth wicket after India were reduced to 65/4. However, both set batters lost their wickets while attempting to play big shots, with Rohit's blazing unbeaten 51 also failing to take them across the finish line.