BAN vs IND | Who said what ft. Mehidy Hasan, Rohit Sharma
Mehidy Hasan's maiden century set up a famous series win for the Tigers
|(Walton)
India let slip a strong start against Bangladesh in the second ODI to eventually succumb by five runs in a thriller and thus lose the series. Mehidy Hasan was again the star of the show, scoring a match-saving century while Rohit Sharma provided the thrills late on having come to bat at number nine.
India lost their second successive ODI series in Bangladesh on Wednesday at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, losing a close encounter by five runs. The Tigers, now holding an unassailable 2-0 lead, rode largely on the contributions of Mehidy Hasan Miraz to save them from a precarious score of 69/6. The youngster remained unbeaten on 100 off 83 deliveries, lacing his knock with eight fours and four maximums while registering his maiden international century on the last ball of the innings.Â
As for the bowling, India faltered early as well, slipping to 65/4 in the absence of their skipper Rohit Sharma who had to go for scans in the first innings after injuring his left thumb while attempting a catch. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel helped stabilize the innings with scores of 82 and 56 respectively, setting up a 107-run stand, before the captain emerged at number nine to smash 51 runs in just 28 balls albeit in a losing cause.Â
Honestly, the thumb is not too great. Some dislocation on the finger and a few stitches but thankfully not a fracture, which is why I could come and bat.
I think when you lose a game, there are positives and negatives. From 70 for 6 to allowing them to get 270-odd was not a great effort from the bowlers. The middle overs and back end are hurting us - it hurt us in the first game as well. We need to focus on what we need to do as individuals but not taking anything away from Mehidy and Mahmudullah. We need to learn how to break partnerships and that's something that will hold you in good stead.  In One-Day cricket, it's about partnerships and when you get those, you have to ensure that they are converted to match-winning partnerships. That's what they did. If you get those 70-run stands, you need to convert them into 110-120 run partnerships for the team to win games, as it isn't easy for the new batter. Having said that, we have a lot of things to look at and we need to be a bit brave and take more chances. Few injury concerns and we need to get to the bottom of it; maybe they're playing too much cricket. It's something we have to sit down with our team at NCA and try and monitor their workload. When they come to play for India, they need to be at more than 100 percent. Can't afford to have half-fit players representing India.
Mehidy Hasan also took two crucial wickets of the well-set Shreyas Iyer and in-form KL Rahul to further contribute to the win. He was the man of the match in the first game as well, with the 25-year-old's 38* taking his team to a famous one-wicket triumph.Â
All credit goes to God for giving me an opportunity to do this. Nothing else to say. Feels very good. Last few years, I have worked hard on the batting and focused on certain areas to improve. My coaches have given me a lot of information on improving my game. Riyad Bhai (Mahmudullah) kept telling me that we need to keep playing deep into the innings and the conversations were mostly about keeping small targets of partnerships. I was just trying to hit the good areas with the ball and put pressure on them.
The all-rounder provided a wholesome moment in the post-match presentation when he took permission from the presenter to offer thanks in his native Bangla to the fans.
First of all, a huge thanks to everyone here on the ground who came to watch us play and supported us. Thanks to all those who are supporting us from their homes as well, from in front of their television screens, your support is very important to us!
Litton Das, meanwhile, did exceptionally well having been named stand-in captain for the injured Tamim Iqbal and led the team to a statement-making series win. He lauded the 7th wicket partnership between Mehidy and Mahmudullah, with the latter's 77 helping establish a 148-run stand.
Very happy, to win in my first series as captain, it feels good. We felt that 240-250 was a good score. We were under pressure but they (Mahmudullah and Mehidy) were brilliant. Don't know what their conversations were, but what they did was simply superb. I wanted to rotate my main bowlers around because it was a good pitch in the second half, so I couldn't afford to bowl too many of my main bowlers early on. The focus for the next game will also be about winning.
