Despite Bangladesh’s recent rise in reputation in ODI cricket, India went into the three-match series as clear favourites. It, therefore, came as a shock to one and all when India were outplayed by the hosts in the first ODI by 79 runs.
It was a clinical performance by the hosts in Mirpur as they first dominated the Indian bowlers by posting 307 on board and then maintained an impressive level of discipline with the ball to dismiss them for 228 in 46 overs.
Smarting from the loss, Indian captain, MS Dhoni conceded Bangladesh outdid them in every department. He specifically cited their bowling and India’s batting as the determining factors of the game’s result.
“They bowled well and knew exactly which variation will work best in these conditions. But we can certainly improve our batting,” Dhoni said after the match, ruing the lack of partnerships which left them with no gas in the tank to accelerate in the slog overs.
“We got off to a very good start with the bat but then we kept losing wickets. When chasing 300 on a slower pitch it is crucial to have wickets in hand, which we didn’t,” Dhoni said. “If you keep losing wickets the pressure mounts and you cannot rotate the strike freely.
“I have always believed that you need to take the game till the end. You do not have to win in the 40th or 45th over because if you have wickets in hand, you will get over the line in the end. Even when (Suresh) Raina and (Ravindra) Jadeja were batting, the target wasn’t out of our reach. With that extra fielder inside the circle, you can get those extra 15-20 runs.”
The Indian skipper was particularly impressed by the bowling of Bangladesh’s debutant left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman who rattled the Indian batting with figures of 5 for 50. He also believed that execution and the ability to generate extra bounce on the slow wicket was the difference between the two bowling attacks.
“Mustafizur bowled really well today,” Dhoni said. “Being a left-armer is certainly a slight advantage but he mixed his deliveries very well and that was the reason why he was so successful today. He and all other bowlers used the variations pretty impressively. They didn’t bowl 140 kph and then a slower one that was 115 kph. They mixed up the pace really well.
“Also, more of their bowlers got that extra bounce as compared to ours. Umesh (Yadav) is our quickest bowler but he doesn’t get too much bounce unless he bowls a bouncer. At times bounce on a slow wicket is harder to negotiate because it climbs on to you and still doesn’t have enough pace to work around with. I felt they used their variations well and they knew what the exact lengths were to bowl. That was the difference between our and their fast bowling units,” he said.
Dhoni said the team was hurt by this loss and also stressed that it was important they took it as one bad day and bounce back quickly in the next game.
“It does hurt and it is very easy to go into a shell when you lose,” Dhoni said. “But what’s more important is to find out the reasons why you lost. Because all the individuals are quite experienced at this level, they easily pick what went wrong and more often than not you find them getting ready and taking up responsibility in the next game.”
As for Bangladesh, Dhoni sees a bright future for their cricket. “Bangladesh haven’t achieved what they should have achieved by now,” he said. “They are a fantastic side and not only this time but they have been a very good side for a long time, especially in the subcontinent. With time their performance overseas will also improve. It will be important for them to not be content with the success they have been getting. They have the potential to be a very consistent side in international cricket,” the Indian captain said.
By: BCCI
