India went 0-1 down in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh in Mirpur with a 79-run defeat. After conceding 307 with the ball, the visitors were skittled out for 228 in 46 overs.
Suresh Raina, who bowled economical 10 overs for 40 runs and scored a run-a-ball 40 in an effort to chase down the target, spoke to bcci.tv after the game about what hurt the team and how they will need to step up in the second match.
Could you please analyse this game for me?
They outplayed us in every department. Having said that, all the five wickets that Mustafizur took, he got them off the slower ball and got our set batsmen, first Rohit and then me. When Ravindra Jadeja and I were batting, I believed that if we could stretch it out for five more overs, we would have won it. This loss is a bit shocking for us and it is hurting a lot. Yes, they played better than us today but we are still a better team. Their cricket is improving day by day but we are on a different level. We didn’t play well today. But we still have two games left and we need to put in all our energy in making a strong comeback. One defeat doesn’t make us a bad side. As Ravi (Shastri) bhai just told us, the way we come back will show our character.
It was an achievable target, wasn’t it?
We should have chased it, especially given the strength of our batting line-up. But their debutant left-arm pacer bowled really well and the two breakthroughs that Taskin (Ahmed) gave them in the form of Shikhar (Dhawan) and Virat (Kohli) was game-changing. After that we never really managed a good partnership besides the one between Jaddu and me. That hurt us.
What did you and Jadeja plan during that partnership?
When Shakib came on to bowl, I knew I could hit him for a few big shots. But we couldn’t afford to lose another wicket at that juncture and so I decided to focus on taking the game further. We took the batting powerplay from the short end of the bowling thinking even if we mishit the ball a bit, we can still clear the boundary. I kept telling Jaddu that the required run-rate should not get higher than 9. If we just control it till the 40th over, we can chase down 70-90 runs in the last 10. Unfortunately I got that slower one from Mustafizur and got out.
With the kind of start they got with the bat, did that put India on the backfoot right away?
It was a positive start but it will not come off all the time. It was their day. They went hammer and tongs after our bowlers, the ball kept landing in safe areas and it just went their way. We did well to pull things back when Ashwin and I were bowling. I managed to bowl a few dot balls and Ashwin bowled brilliantly from the other end. He deceived the batsmen with flight and through the line. After the start they got, it was a good effort from us to restrict them to 307.
Did Bangladesh’s strategy of going in with four fast bowlers on a slow wicket take you by surprise a bit?
It all boiled down to the debutant left-arm seamer bowling well. He varied the pace very well in particular. When your captain and coach (Mashrafe Mortaza and Heath Streak) both are fast bowlers, most of the times the think-tank will go for an attack with 70 per cent pace and 30 per cent spin. Yes, to opt for four pacers on a slow and turning wicket was a master stroke from them. But had we batted better, things would have looked very different.
Was Mustafizur’s habit of getting in the batsman’s way while running between the wickets a distraction?
It would have been disturbing had one of our batsmen got run-out because of that. He collided with Rohit and then MS Dhoni. Anyone could have been seriously hurt. He has to learn to stay away from the pitch when the batsmen are running. The umpires need to have a chat with him about it. If he doesn’t change this habit, it will be very difficult for him.
By: BCCI
