Bangladesh tried too many glory shots and panicked, they lost the game rather than India winning it: Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that Bangladesh did not capitalise upon the excellent position they were in before the rain-break in their clash against India in the T20 World Cup 2022. The Shakib Al Hasan-led side had the game in control at 66/0 in seven overs in a run-chase of 185 until rain came in and the target was revised. The interruption helped the Indian bowlers to come back into the game and wickets at regular intervals did not help the second batting side.

Litton Das got off the blocks in a splendid way with a 27-ball 60 but his dismissal after the rain break through a brilliant piece of work from KL Rahul turned things around. Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed sniffed a chance for the Bangladesh side in the end, however, it was India who held their nerves to win the close encounter by just five runs through DLS method.

Instead of playing smart cricket, they tried to hit a six: Sunil Gavaskar 

Gavaskar said that Bangladesh panicked after the rain break despite the game being in their hands and noted that the asking rate demanded smart cricket rather than the glory shots. He explained how the Bangladesh batters fell to the trap of the short boundaries while Indian bowlers executed their plans cleverly. He added that it was more of Bangladesh losing the game rather than India winning the game.  

"Oh absolutely, at that particular point in time, they were 66 in seven [overs], so we are talking about more than nine runs per over and they were scoring quite comfortably with 10 wickets in hand. And suddenly, when the target was reduced by almost 33 runs, they somehow seemed to have panicked. The asking rate was still the same as when they began their innings," Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying to India Today. 

"Instead of playing smart cricket, they tried to hit a six just about every ball, trying to target the short square boundaries. The Indians bowled cleverly, just out of the arc of the big shots. Hence, the shots, which otherwise would have gone for sixes were caught at long on and deep mid-wicket.” 

"I would say Bangladesh lost the game rather than India winning the game. Yes, India kept their nerves, but it was Bangladesh's batting where they panicked and tried to play too many glory shots. If they had played smart cricket, worked the ball around for twos, they would have got 10 runs an over and that's all that they needed," he added. 

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