"The rest of the batting disappointed slightly" - Aakash Chopra on India's batters barring KL Rahul
Aakash Chopra has said that the Indian batters, barring KL Rahul, dished out a disappointing performance in the first ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Sunday, December 4.
The Men in Blue were bowled out for 186 runs after being asked to bat first on a slightly tacky surface. They went on to lose the match by just one wicket, courtesy of a 51-run last-wicket partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Rahul as the only bright spot during India's batting effort, elaborating:
"I will not say Kamaal Lajawab Rahul today but I will say he batted well, 73 runs off 70 balls, which means you went at better than a run-a-ball. It was the highlight of the game from the Indian batting standpoint because the rest of the batting disappointed slightly."
Chopra highlighted that India's openers, contrary to expectations, could not give the visitors a good start. The former Indian better stated:
"Everyone collapsed in our batting. I was on a flight at the time and was expecting that a long opening partnership would have happened by the time I deboard. Forget the opening partnership - Rohit Sharma scored 27 runs off 31 balls, Shikhar Dhawan was playing some sort of reverse sweep against Mehidy and he was dismissed for seven."
Rohit Sharma was castled by Shakib Al Hasan after scoring a 31-ball 27. Shikhar Dhawan was the first Indian wicket to fall, bowled by Miraz while trying to play a reverse sweep.
"It was a setback" - Aakash Chopra on Shreyas Iyer's dismissal
Chopra added that Shreyas Iyer's dismissal after Virat Kohli's early departure put India further behind in the game. He observed:
"Litton Das took a good catch of Virat Kohli but the ball had gone in the air. When Shreyas Iyer got out, to be fair he was batting alright, then a short ball, an attempt to play a big shot and he got out there, it was a setback."
The renowned commentator acknowledged that Rahul and Washington Sundar strung together a decent partnership to bail India out of a precarious situation, saying:
"The question was where will we reach from there because even 100 runs were not posted on the board. There was a good partnership between KL Rahul and Washington Sundar there."
Chopra concluded by pointing out that it was almost like a procession once Sundar was dismissed. He elaborated:
"Washington Sundar also played the reverse sweep and fell prey to Shakib Al Hasan and after that, it seemed like a cycle stand, the wickets kept falling one after the other and India were bowled out for 186 in 41.2 overs."
Notice how the discussions about yesterday's game are now all around India's bowling and fielding when actually India's batting cost them the match.
India were decently placed at 152/4 in the 33rd over, with Rahul and Sundar at the crease. They lost their last six wickets for just 34 runs and were bowled out with more than 50 deliveries remaining.