Despite a late Rohit Sharma reply, Bangladesh wins the ODI series

A fluke might occur once. A wake-up call comes in twos. Bangladesh is no pushover, especially not at home where they have 30,000 adoring supporters. But India kept making mistakes till there was no turning back, losing the gripping second ODI by five runs and the series on Wednesday in Mirpur. Despite a valiant fifty from captain Rohit Sharma, who batted at No. 9 after missing nearly the whole game owing to a thumb injury sustained on the pitch, India lost their second straight series in Bangladesh. 

In the 46th over, Sharma made a nearly successful attempt, pulling Ebadot Hossain for two sixes and then caressing him through cover for a boundary. This brought the equation down to 41 off 24 balls, which is within the realm of possibility for a T20 match.

Rohit Sharma scores an undefeated half-century against Bangladesh despite having a dislocated thumb.

However, this is an India squad where both the bowlers and the hitters refuse to bat intelligently. Mohammed Siraj attempted to heave Mahmudullah and Mustafizur Rahman for eight balls in vain rather than putting bat to ball and giving Sharma the strike. Mahmudullah was only brought on after Mehidy Hasan Miraz hobbled off with an injury. 

The drama was increased by Mahmudullah's two dropped catches in the 49th over. However, the eight dot balls Siraj faced for just one run in the 47th and 48th overs meant that 20 runs were required of Sharma in the final over, which was bowled by Rahman. He tried. The target was reduced to six runs off the final ball when Rahman hit a yorker after scoring a dot, two fours, another dot, and then a six. For India, that was it. 

Bangladesh has now done this twice in a row. They made it possible for Miraz to sew a record 10-wicket partnership to take the victory in the first game. On Wednesday, Bangladesh was in dire straits at 69/6 before Miraz and Mahmudullah (77) shared 148 runs for the seventh wicket and Miraz went on to hit his first century off the 83rd and final ball of the game (8x4, 4x6). By the 19th over, when Bangladesh had lost six wickets, the match appeared to be going in a completely other direction. Before Washington Sundar's controlled spin bowling dismissed Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim in the span of six balls, Siraj and Umran Malik caused significant damage early on. 

At this point, Mahmudullah and Miraz met. When Deepak Chahar pulled up with a sore hamstring after only bowling three overs, Miraz once more assumed the role of the aggressor against a bowling attack lacking one member.

It wasn't a tremendous effort from the bowlers to go from 70/6 to allowing them to score 271, according to Sharma. "Our back end and middle overs are hurting us. It also cost us in the first game. We must develop the ability to dissolve partnerships, which will serve you well. 

It wasn't a tremendous effort from the bowlers to go from 70/6 to allowing them to score 271, according to Sharma. "Our back end and middle overs are hurting us. It also cost us in the first game. We must develop the ability to dissolve partnerships, which will serve you well. 

Sharma also criticised the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for allowing players to represent India despite fitness concerns. "There are a few injury worries, and we need to find out why. Perhaps they are playing too much cricket. At NCA, we must discuss it with our staff in order to try to keep an eye on their workload. Cannot afford to have players representing India who are only partially fit.