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We Have Embarrassed Bangladesh in Front of the Whole World, Says Mushfiqur Rahim
An embattled Bangladesh skipper, Mushfiqur Rahim lashed out at his batsmen after a humiliating 47-run (D/L method) defeat to India on Tuesday. Chasing 106 in 41 overs, the hosts crashed from 44/2 to be bowled out for 58 against the world champions under overcast conditions.
Bangladesh lost a golden opportunity to draw level after India took an unassailable lead in the series in Mirpur. Rahim, who had been critical of India sending across a second string team for the bilateral series, seemed visibly embarrassed and felt let down.
"The way our batsmen played embarrassed the country in front of the whole world. The way some of our batsmen selected their shots was not good enough. The pitch was doing a bit for the quicks but if you came in and spent some time 106 was chaseable," Rahim said after the match.
Rahim said he hoped to see his side bounce back in the remaining ODI. The final match of the series will be played on Thursday and Bangladesh would now be hard-pressed to avoid a whitewash.
Rahim was impressed with debutant Taskin Ahmed's five-wicket haul.
On the other hand, India captain Suresh Raina was elated, having engineered a near-impossible victory. He was the only batsman from either side to exhibit any aggression and then led his team brilliantly to trigger a Bangladesh collapse. Stuart Binny (6/4) and Mohit Sharma (4/22) of course made his job easier.
Raina, standing-in for regular skipper MS Dhoni, later summed up Binny's efforts with a tongue-in-cheek remark: "I didn't know Binny could bowl this well. This performance will definitely help Binny when he plays Test cricket in England."
With just 105 to defend, Raina had no option but to set attacking fields for his bowlers, who delivered to perfection.
"I knew I had to keep faith in the bowlers. I thought we needed to score at least 180 but the way Stuart and Mohit bowled was unbelievable."
Mohit had started the demolition job, picking up the first two wickets as Bangladesh got off to a poor start and he said since the pitch was good to bowl on, he did not try to do anything extra.
Nothing's going right for Tamim but hopefully he will come back [to form]. Still one more game to go, hopefully we'll play better... Taskin and Mashrafe bowled really well."