Indian batter Robin Uthappa believes Indian batter KL Rahul’s direct-hit run-out of Bangladesh opener Liton Das in the 2022 T20 World Cup match on Wednesday, November 2, was the main example of how luck always plays a big role in the T20 game. On the second ball of the eighth over of the rain-affected match, Najmul Shanto hit one to deep mid-wicket and called for two runs. Das stumbled a bit while taking the second when Rahul came from deep and threw the ball flat from a 45-degree angle at the non-striker’s end, which hit the base of the stumps and caught Das short of the crease as well.

Das was batting at 60 off 27 and had taken Bangladesh to 66/0 after seven overs. However, his dismissal saw the poor state in the Tigers’ camp as five more wickets fell in the next five overs as well. Bangladesh eventually fell short by five runs of the DLS target also. While speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Robin Uthappa said the video of Rahul’s run-out could be shown as proof that luck matters in cricket too.

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“T20 matches are such that nobody is out of the game and matches change within two to three balls. That runout upended the match and gave India so much momentum when they had none. Liton Das’ run-out was incredible, it was match-turning. Those who don’t believe in luck, show them this video. Luck exists. When you play international cricket or at the highest level, luck is palpable. There are periods when you see a player and think, ‘it’s his time’,” he added.

Uthappa, however, criticized Bangladesh’s batting approach. He said that instead of using the bounce on the Adelaide Oval pitch and “hitting through the line” (at the same angle as the ball was delivered), they applied too much power.

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“Urgency was needed but the way they went about it was wrong. They were trying to put in a lot of power. In fact, this wicket is such that you’ll get the purchase even when you hit through the line. Perhaps they were trying a bit too hard. If you see, the ball was traveling in height and not in distance. In the sub-continent, we try to hit it up in the air because height is important, but when there’s bounce, you want to hit through the line. That’s what Bangladesh didn’t do,” Robin Uthappa concluded.