As Bangladesh took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, here are the five factors which turned the tide in the hosts’ favour.
1. Rahane on the bench: The stakes were high. India had to win it to stay alive in the series. In those circumstances, the team selection raised a lot of eyebrows. Ajinkya Rahane was not picked and so wasn’t Mohit Sharma. Ambati Rayudu and Axar Patel got a nod, but both failed to disturb the scorers, registering ducks. The latter failed to impress with the ball too and returned with mediocre figures of 1/48 in his seven overs.
2. Just starts: Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and even skipper MS Dhoni got starts but failed to hang around. While Dhawan wasn’t at his best during his stay in the middle, Kohli and Dhoni looked good for the period they batted. In any format, it is important that a batsman converts a start and allows the rest to bat around him. This didn’t happen on Sunday and India were bundled out for a paltry total.
3. Miraculous Mustafizur: Mustafizur continued from where he left in the first ODI — 6/43 to follow up his 5/50. The young man didn’t do anything extraordinary. He stuck to the plan of bowling those sharp off-cutters and bringing the odd one back into the right-hander. Moreover, he wasn’t afraid to execute the slower ones. Dhoni was deceived by one of those. The very next ball was a straighter one to Axar Patel who was caught off-guard and plumb in front.
4. Ashwin, lone ranger: India played three spinners on Wednesday. But despite that Men in Blue were left searching for someone who could ably complement the front-line spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. If Jadeja impressed with an economy of 4 then he lacked a wicket-taking strategy. On the other hand, Axar grabbed a wicket only to leak runs. The spinning trio never fired in unison.
5. Aggressive Mashrafe: Mashrafe Mortaza had played for Bangladesh long enough in ODI cricket but his cricketing brain has been an absolute revelation so far. Having six fielders in the circle even after restrictions were lifted to giving Mustafizur a slightly longer spell with the new ball, Mortaza kept India guessing all the time.
