IND vs BAN: Bangladesh Lost The Match Rather Than India Winning It - Sunil Gavaskar

Veteran Sunil Gavaskar, who is part of star-studded list of commentators for the ongoing T20 World Cup believes it was Bangladesh, who lost the match, rather than India winning it.

India and Bangladesh played a nail-biting match at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, with the Men in Blue winning by five runs to eye the T20 World Cup semifinal spot.

Shakib al Hasan invited India to bat first, and they got off to a terrible start, losing captain Rohit Sharma cheaply for two runs.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, who both blasted respective half-centuries, calmed things down, and India amassed a respectable 184/6 in just 20 overs.

In response, Bangladesh put up a valiant fight against India, with Litton Das manning the 185-run pursuit. Before play was stopped due to rain, the opener went on to hammer a 21-ball half-century, giving the Tigers an early advantage.

Bangladesh was given a revised target of 151 runs in 16 overs when play resumed. Bangladesh could only produce 145/6 in 16 overs after losing their momentum owing to the flurry of wickets.

It was Bangladesh’s batting where they panicked: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar believed that Bangladesh actually lost the match. When asked if the rain break had a significant impact on the result while in Adelaide.

The former cricketer told India Today: “Of course, they were 66 in seven overs at the time, so we were taking roughly more than nine runs per – and they were scoring very easily with 10 wickets in hand.

“And then, when the target was decreased by nearly 33 runs, they appeared to panic. The asking rate remained the same from when they began their innings.”

“Rather than playing sensible cricket, they sought to hit a six almost every ball, aiming for the short square boundaries.” The Indians bowled deftly, just outside the big shots’ arc. As a result, shots that would have gone for sixes were caught at far on and deep mid-wicket,” Sunil Gavaskar continued.

“I’d say Bangladesh lost the game rather than India winning it, Yes, India kept their nerves, but it was Bangladesh’s batting where they panicked and tried to play too many glory shots.

“If they had played smart cricket, worked the ball around for twos, they would have gotten 10 runs an over and that’s all that was required,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.

India now has six points after four games, moving them to the lead of Group 2’s points standings. The following match, against Zimbabwe, will take place on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

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