Mirpur was slumbering. Bangladesh had built a brick wall of 307 runs. If looked from just this point, they were likely to win. Unless the blue truck running straight into the wall is India. India was in the top spot on 101/2. Kohlihad just walked in, and everyone on the pitch and outside knew what he could do. The talented Taskin ran in. Mirpur was slumbering no more. Taskin balled a short, wide ball and the “out of form” Kohli’s loose shot ensured the ball edged into the safe hands of the captain behind the stumps.
Bangladesh’s batsmen got off to a solid start (Iqbal 60, Sarkar 54, Al Hasan 52). But none of them capitalised on itleaving Bangladesh all out on 307. India came out with their fearsome openers Rohith Sharma (63 runs) and Shikar Dhawan (30 runs), butafter they got out, the game was pretty boring. Bangladesh got wickets in regular intervals.
Virat Kohli, the media proclaimed “Tendulkar” hasn’t had much luck recently with 5 runs from 25 balls in his last 3 ODI matches. Kohli likes to keep his press conferences as strong as his pull shots. He breathes in the bowler’s confidence and exhales runs—a regular rhythm he has set for himself in ODIs. He loves to be on top and that proved to be his downfall. Sharma was playing flawlessly and all Kohli had to do was rotate the strike. But things went the other way.
The aforementioned truck? The driver of that blue truck? Of course, it’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The big man couldn’t be stopped by the BBCI let alone Mustafizur Rahman. The Indian captain ran into Mustafizur in the 25th over, ramming his left arm into the 19-year-old debutant, resulting in Mustafizur to leave the field for a while.
India lost because of many factors. One big reason was that Bangladesh wasn’t scared. They played aggressive shots to the best bowlers of the Indian team. They respected the ability of the players but weren’t intimidated by the pomp and glory surrounding the Men in Blue. The X factor was Mustafizur Rahman. As Dhoni said, the best way to bowl on the pitch was to vary the pace and bounce and Rahman executed it perfectly, gifting himself a 5/50 on debut. Another reason for the loss was India’s inability to rebuild partnerships after the opening partnership was broken to quote Dhoni, “We were not able to get big partnerships, which I feel is crucial when you're looking to chase 300 or 305.” Another decisive factor to Bangladesh winning was captain Mortaza’s willingness to experiment with his XI. Unlike Dhoni who stubbornly sticks with the Ashwin-Jadeja combination, Mortaza played 4 pace bowlers. Small details such as this played a significant role for Bangladesh’s win.