Aakash Chopra has said that Bangladesh were never in the run chase even when Shakib Al Hasan was in the middle during the third ODI against India. The Indian team set a massive 410-run target for the Tigers in Chattogram on Saturday, December 10 before Bangladesh were bowled out for 182 as well.
While reflecting on Bangladesh’s chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Axar Patel dismissed Anamul Haque with the first ball he bowled. Litton Das played well for some time but Mohammed Siraj dismissed him in the end. After that, it was like a procession of sorts. There was no hope even when Shakib was there because he also scored 43 runs off 50 balls, you were chasing 410.”
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He continued: “You could have gotten closer if he had scored 80-100 runs off 50 balls. Mushfiqur Rahim – you will say a very disappointing series. He scored only seven runs in this match. There will be question marks over him because Litton Das is a keeper and was also the stand-in captain here. So Bangladesh will have to start thinking very judiciously. Mushfiqur is already not playing T20s and if there is no contribution from him in ODIs, then they will have to think. Yasir Ali scored 25 but after that, whether it was Mahmudullah or Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the runs were not scored eventually.”
However, Rahim scored seven runs off 13 in Saturday’s game. He only managed just 37 runs at a poor average of 12.33 and a poor strike rate of 45.12 in his three knocks in the series so far as well. Aakash Chopra also shared that the Indian bowlers cannot be judged based on their performance in the third ODI as well.
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“Bowling – do not judge. Shardul picked up three wickets, Axar and Umran took two apiece, and one wicket each for Kuldeep, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj. We don’t give too much attention to these wickets because half the wickets fall due to the 410-run pressure. So let’s not read too much into it,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
