After India's heartbreaking loss to Bangladesh on Wednesday which resulted in a series defeat, there have been loads of speculations about the intent and the approach of the Indian cricket team. This is their second consecutive ODI series loss and looking at the 2023 ODI World Cup that will be played in India,m things certainly look pretty bleak for the Indian cricket team. In the 2nd One Day International, Bangladesh were 69/6 at one point in time, but it was a mediocre bowling effort by the Indian cricket team that allowed Bangladesh to register a score of 272 runs by the end of their quota of 50 odd overs.
Apart from the collective failure of the entire Indian batting unit, Virat Kohli's form yet again is becoming a subject of discussion. Bangladesh were stellar with the ball and they dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli within twenty overs. To India's fortunes, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer fought valiantly and saved them from an embarrassing defeat. Their efforts certainly were not enough and India fell short of Bangladesh's target by a margin of 5 runs. Rohit Sharma, in particular, was extremely brave as he played a blinder of an innings with an injured thumb. Wiketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik lavished praises on Rohit and said that the Indian skipper has gained massive respect amongst fans and experts of the game.
Karthik also addressed Iyer's sensational performance with the bat and said that the Mumbai-based batsman has been the most consistent run-getter for India so far. This year, Shreyas Iyer has scored over 700 ODI runs and he has been giving tough competition to the likes of Suryakumar Yadav. Dinesh Karthik is in complete awe of Shreyas Iyer as he compared him to India's stalwart and modern-day legend Virat Kohli.
Dinesh Karthik further said:
Iyer has been phenomenal for a very long time now. He has scored 700-plus this year and is oozing confidence. ODIs are his thing and he likes the fact that he can take a few balls at the start and then launch them at his will. Iyer also is a terrific player of spin bowling and everytime he walks in to bat these days, the opposition tries to test him with the short ball and he seems to be improving, everytime. Yes, he certainly had the odd failure which could be due to his weakness against the short ball but every time he crosses that you can see he is a man on a mission. He almost sealed the game for India and took them to a place where it was safe. If you want to make a name like what Virat Kohli has done over the years, these are the games that you wanna be 120-130 not out.
India will play their 3rd ODI against Bangladesh on December 10, 2022. They are 2-0 down in the series and are on the verge of a whitewash.
