IND vs BAN: 'There Are Some Question Marks Over Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy' - Former India Cricketer

Former India cricketer Saba Karim raises questions over Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the first ODI against Bangladesh on Sunday. India suffered 1 wicket defeat in the thrilling contest as Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman held their nerves and shared an unbeaten match-winning 51-run stand for the last wicket to get Bangladesh over the line.

India had a forgettable day with the bat as apart from KL Rahul, other batters struggled to get going against Bangladesh bowlers who are at the top of their game in the series opener. India bounced back while defending the 187-run target as Deepak Chahar claimed the wicket on the very first ball. While Mohammed Siraj claimed three wickets to put pressure on the hosts’ batters. At one stage, India gained total control by picking nine wickets but the Mehidy-Mustafizur duo snatched the win from the jaws of defeat.

Also Read: IND vs BAN, 1st ODI: ‘I Feel the Genes are There and it’s Only About Handling Pressure’, Says Rohit Sharma

Karim was critical of Rohit’s captaincy after India’s defeat and termed it clueless during the critical situation of the match.

“If we analyze our bowling at the end, the right lengths were not bowled. There are some question marks over Rohit Sharma’s captaincy as well. There should be some talk about it. According to me, his captaincy was a bit clueless,” Karim told India News.

The former India wicketkeeper feels that there was no urgency when Bangladesh were nine down and the last pair was taking single and doubles with quite ease.

“India looked very complacent after Bangladesh were nine down. They thought they had 50 runs to defend and the batters would not be able to get them. No one seemed bothered as Bangladesh got easy ones and twos. There was no urgency and the complacency eventually hurt India,” he added.

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The former BCCI selector suggested that India lacked speed in the death overs and handed the match to the hosts on a platter.

“We have often said that India need speed at the death. Again, that was lacking and haunted us to some extent. I would say India played very poor cricket and handed the match they should have won to Bangladesh on a platter. Very bad performance,” Karim said.

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