Rahul Dravid lauded India skipper Rohit Sharma’s effort with an injured thumb to hit an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls gave Bangladesh a scare in the second One Day International at Dhaka on Wednesday.
Rohit, who hit five sixes in his blitz and needed a six to win on the final ball when Mustafizur Rahman held his nerve, had gone for scans after he took a hit while attempting a catch at slip in Bangladesh’s innings.
“It was phenomenal for him to show that level of courage,” said Dravid. “He had a serious dislocation and had to go to the hospital to set that right. Stitches in his hand, and a couple of injections to be able to just go out and bat. But credit to him, he was really determined to go out and have a go and take a chance and it was amazing how close he brought us with that innings.”
“It was an absolutely phenomenal innings by the skipper. Great courage to be able to go out there and take a chance but unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the line,” he added.
Watch: Rahul Dravid says Rohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Sen will miss third BAN vs IND ODI
Bangladesh registered their second successive one at home against India, seven years apart. Dravid acknowledged that having a squad at full strength has been a challenge and that managing the three formats has not been simple.
Shreyas Iyer, top-scored with 82 for India and his partnership with Axar Patel provided India a chance after they India were left reeling at 65-4. Talking about the partnership, he said, “Yeah it was crucial. The partnership with Axar was beautiful and brought us back into the game, both of them brought us back into the game. The result would have been different if they had batted for 30-40 runs but they played well and brought us back into the game.”
Mohammed Siraj led the attack after he removed the openers and fellow quick Umran Malik, who also took two, soon joined forces to push Bangladesh onto the backfoot. Spinner Washington Sundar struck three times in seven deliveries including the key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Talking about the positives from the series in the game, Dravid said, “It’s really nice to see the way he’s coming back, he’s bowled well in both the games and he batted well in New Zealand as well. Here because we wanted to lengthen our batting a little bit and keep that left-right combination going, we promoted Washington. We think that he’s a very capable batsman and he can bat really well.”
“I think even in this series just to see the way Umran came in and bowled today was pleasing. Unfortunately for Kuldeep, he played one game and got injured. He’s someone really exciting. Rahul’s batting in the last game, Shreyas’ batting in this game, some of the bowling [are positives]... I thought Siraj was exceptional in the last game. Shardul has bowled particularly well in both the games and Washington as well, Axar’s batting today.
“So there have been bits and pieces there we can take heart from. Of course we’re disappointed with the result but there are some positives as we build into the next World Cup and there are a lot of matches to go. So nothing to be disheartened about, things to learn from and hopefully move forward.”
Responding to a query about lack of wickets in the middle overs, Dravid said the issue has been that India have not had the luxury of picking their best squad yet.
“I guess from our perspective, it has not been easy to play without the full squad with us. Hopefully, from January, depending on injuries, we will get full squad to play home series. We will look to address these issues then,” Dravid said at post-match press conference.
“In the last two years, we had prioritised T20s a lot as there were two World Cups. In the next 8-10 months, we will be prioritising ODI cricket. It is not easy to juggle three formats. Now, our white ball boys (specialists) will get some rest with Test matches being played,” he added when asked about dealing with different formats.
You can watch the full press conference here
Quotes courtesy: PTI and Cricbuzz inputs
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!