Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar downplayed Team India’s loss to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday. Gavaskar stated that India did not play their full-strength team and that’s why it would be better to focus on the positives than worry about the loss as well.
Having already qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final, India made as many as five changes to their playing XI for the match against Bangladesh. Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were among the senior players who didn’t feature. However, India bowled first after losing the toss and restricted Bangladesh to 265/8. Their batters, however, failed to chase down the total and they were bowled out for 259 in 49.5 overs despite a stunning century from Shubman Gill (121 off 133).
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Speaking to Sports Tak, Gavaskar said, “I would not look too much into the defeat. I would look at the positives. Shubman Gill batted very well as did Axar Patel, while Mohammed Shami bowled well. I would look at the positives heading into the final. We need to remember that this is not our regular team. India made five changes to their team, so they did not have the rhythm – whether we are talking about Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur was dropped for one match. Because the rhythm is not there, things become difficult when you have to play a match.”
However, apart from Shubman Gill, Shami also impressed with 2/33, while Axar Patel contributed 42 off 34 lower down the order as well. Unlike Gavaskar, former all-rounder Madan Lal criticized the India team. He slammed the batters for playing loose strokes and also expressed disappointment at the bowlers for allowing Bangladesh to settle in between. Notably, India will now take on Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 final in Colombo on Sunday.
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“If you look at India’s batting, there were many soft dismissals. Such shots should not have been played. KL Rahul’s confidence level should have been high after the hundred against a big team like Pakistan. You should also know how to win games. Ishan Kishan’s dismissal was also a soft one. India had got four Bangladesh batters out for 59 runs, but then allowed them to score 265 on this wicket,” he concluded.
