Despite skipper Rohit Sharma's late onslaught, India went down to Bangladesh by five runs in a thrilling second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Wednesday which also cost the Men in Blue the series 2-0 with a match yet to be played.
After badly hurting his thumb while fielding, Rohit couldn't open for India but the resilient Hitman came to bat at no.9 when the Men in Blue were in utter trouble as they needed 64 to win off 44 balls, and nearly pulled it off. Rohit belted a whirlwind 51 off 28 and pushed the match to the wire but couldn't get the job done.
Meanwhile, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar has a different perspective to the entire scenario while assessing Rohit's decision to come late to India's rescue. Gavaskar believes that had Rohit decided to bat earlier, he would have walked in a little early which could have had a different result, might be in India's favour.
"Everybody knows the quality and class of the man. And the thing now, when India came so close, is why did he not come in to bat earlier. If he was going to bat at No. 9, then he should have batted at No. 7," Gavaskar said on Sony Sports Network after Bangladesh won the second ODI.
The series loss also forces India to go back to the drawing board with the World Cup less than 12 months away.
At 65/4, India were in dire straits in the run chase before a spirted 101-ball 107-run between Shreyas Iyer (82 off 102) and Axar Patel (56 off 56) brought them back into the contest. Gavaskar feels that had Rohit walked in a bit earlier, it would have allowed the rest of the India batters to not rush and play with composure, which was the case with Axar, who played a rash stroke and got dismissed.
"What that could have done is, I think, Axar Patel would have played differently. Axar thought that maybe Rohit Sharma won’t bat, and therefore he played that shot. At that stage, there was no need to play that shot. Axar was batting so well, he was picking the ball well, and had he continued, you never know, the outcome could have been different. At No. 9, he almost got India to a memorable win so had he come to bat at 7, India would have had a much better chance," Gavaskar further added.
After the match, India skipper said ineffective bowling in the middle overs coupled with the batters' inability to build partnerships led to the visitors' downfall in the three-match ODI series in Bangladesh.
"When you lose a game, there are positives and negatives. From being 69/6, allowing them to get to 270-odd wasn't a great effort from our bowlers. We started well but the middle overs and the back end is what's hurting us a lot. Happened in the last game as well. It's something we need to work on," a disappointed Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony."
On the batting front, he said: "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. Need to be braver in the middle," he further added.
Meanwhile, Rohit is all but out of the remainder of the Bangladesh tour, including the two-match Test series as he will be ‘flying back home’ to consult experts after sustaining a finger injury, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed after the match.
