Team India fans are ripping Rohit Sharma for abusing Washington Sundar during the side's shocking 1-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the first ODI of the three-match series on Sunday.
Helped by veteran Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan's five-fer, the home team bowled out Rohit Sharma and company for a paltry total of 186 with KL Rahul being the lone warrior among the Men in Blue.
Other than KL Rahul who scored a quickfire 73 off 70 deliveries, no Indian batter managed to get past 27 as the Indian batters struggled with their timing on a pitch that aided spin from the beginning.
However, despite India's low score, Bangladeshis found themselves under the pump and were on the verge of defeat when a 10th-wicket partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman turned the tide in their favor.
With 51 runs still needed to win, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman defied the odds to secure a shock 1-wicket triumph over their much larger subcontinental neighbor during the weekend.
Though Miraz and Rahman's stand was the defining factor in Bangladesh's win, India's poor fielding during the concluding stages of the encounter was equally responsible for their defeat.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz was particularly lucky as Indian fielders dropped his catches on a few occasions. One such incident occurred in the 43rd over of the Bangladesh run chase when Washington Sundar decided against going for a catch and the ball landed just in front of him.
India captain Rohit Sharma, watching this unfold from inside the 30-yard circle, was furious with Washington Sundar's effort. With emotions running high, Rohit Sharma launched an expletive-laden rant against his India teammate as he screamed, “What the f**k, Bhe*c**d,” in frustration.
As the clip began doing the rounds on social media, a section of Indian cricket admirers took to Twitter to blast Rohit Sharma for his unruly behavior.
“Shame on Rohit Sharma abusing a youngster, feel for Washington Sundar,” a Team India supporter wrote on the microblogging platform.
“He's a big-time abuser. He abuses his own players and forcefully asks them to deliver, which they can't,” another added.
“Being cool and calm is not everyone's cup of tea when things don’t go ur way. Salute to the only captain cool,” a third said referring to the legendary MS Dhoni.
After the match, Rohit Sharma slammed his batters for their disappointing show with the bat, claiming that the score his side put up on the board was just not enough. Though the bowlers did exceedingly well to bring them back into the match, the batters were responsible for their loss.
“It was a very close game. We did pretty well to comeback into that position. We didn't bat well. 184 wasn't good enough, but we bowled pretty well and they held their nerve in the end. If you look back how we bowled right from ball one – of course we would have loved to bowl better at the end – but we bowled pretty well for 40 overs and took wickets. We just didn't have enough runs. Another 25-30 runs would have helped. We were looking at 240-250 after the 25-over mark. When you keep losing wickets it is difficult,” Rohit Sharma told Anjum Chopra after India's defeat to the hosts.
“We need to learn and understand how to play on such wickets. No excuses for us because we are used to these wickets. I don't really know how much they can improve in a couple of practice sessions. I feel the genes are there and it's only about handling pressure. I am sure these guys will learn and we look forward to the next game. Hopefully we can change things around. We know exactly what we need to do in these conditions,” Rohit Sharma added.
Meanwhile, ex-India batter Mohammad Kaif was scathing in his criticism of Rohit Sharma's batting.
“You have to bat well. We are talking a lot about the bowling, they batted badly. We lost the match because of batting. We need runs from Virat Kohli. We need runs from Rohit Sharma the captain. Rohit Sharma has not been in form as a captain, he has not been able to score regularly,” Mohammad Kaif told Sony Sports.
On the other hand, Mehidy Hasan Miraz who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his game-defining knock of 38 runs off 39 balls was extremely pleased with his performance with both bat and ball. Besides, his unbeaten match-turning innings, Miraz also took the important wicket of India opener Shikhar Dhawan in Mirpur.
“I am really excited. Mustafizur and I just thought that we need to believe. I just told him to stay calm and play 20 balls. I am really enjoying bowling. The wicket in the morning was a bit tricky, and I enjoyed bowling. This performance is really memorable for me,” Mehidy Hasan Miraz said after Bangladesh's triumph.
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