"We don't know how to close the game" - Aakash Chopra lauds Mehidy Hasan Miraz's knock
Aakash Chopra has said that the Indian bowlers failed to close out the game and allowed Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah to string together a match-winning partnership in the second ODI in Mirpur on Wednesday, December 7.
Miraz (100* off 83) and Mahmudullah (77 off 96) added 148 runs for the seventh wickets to help Bangladesh reach 271/7 after they were 69/6 at one stage. Their bowlers then restricted the Men in Blue to 266/9 for the Tigers to register a five-run win and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted that the Indian bowlers failed to put the last nail in the coffin, explaining:
"India got off to a good start. At one point, the team (Bangladesh) was struggling. They had reached 69/6, India was all over Bangladesh, which was phenomenal. Now we were looking at 115-120 runs and that we will win easily. One thing has come true for us that we get wickets at the top but we don't know how to close the game."
The former Indian opener picked Miraz as his Player of the Match for Wednesday's game, elaborating:
"There comes Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The Player of the Match has to be Mehidy Hasan Miraz one more time. It was not an unbeaten 38-run knock this time, it was a century batting at No. 8 in 83 balls with eight fours and four sixes."
Chopra praised the spin-bowling all-rounder for realizing his potential, saying:
"He had a huge partnership with Mahmudullah. When he started playing for Bangladesh, he looked very impressive, but after that, his career went slightly down, and I was very surprised because he is a good player. If we talk about him, how can we not talk about Mahmudullah. He also scored 77, a 148-run partnership."
Miraz followed his partnership with Mahmudullah with an unbroken 54-run eighth-wicket stand with Nasum Ahmed (18 off 11). The hosts smashed 102 runs off the last 10 overs of their innings.
"You should invest in him" - Aakash Chopra on Washington Sundar
About India's overall bowling performance, Chopra said:
"India tried everything. Axar Patel went wicketless. Umran Malik picked up two wickets. Shardul Thakur was economical but wicketless. Mohammed Siraj proved expensive at the end - 73 runs in 10 overs. Washington Sundar once again - we have said that he is a very good player and you should invest in him, he takes three wickets."
Poor bowling display from India 🤯
#crickettwitter #indvsban https://t.co/lluOkVAFml
Washington Sundar (3/37) was India's most successful bowler. Mohammed Siraj (2/73) and Umran Malik (2/58) were the other wicket-takers but were taken to the cleaners in the death overs.