"Absolute mockery of the Indian bowling lineup" - Twitterati fume at Men in Blue's dismal display with the ball in 2nd ODI against Bangladesh 

Team India's makeshift bowling unit had a forgettable outing in the second ODI against Bangladesh on Wednesday, December 7. The Men in Blue ended up conceding 271-7 after having Bangladesh on the ropes at one stage at 69-6.

After deciding to bat first, the Litton Das-led side were in trouble. Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj compiled a solid spell for Team India with the new ball, with enough swing and seam movement on offer early on.

The first powerplay wrapped up with Bangladesh reeling at 44-2. The introduction of spin and Umran Malik worked in favor of the visitors as their quick strikes pushed the hosts into a dire situation.

However, the bowling unit took their foot off the pedal and allowed the last batting pair of Mahmudullah (77 off 96) and the in-form Mehidy Hasan Miraz (100* off 83) to settle down. With Rohit Sharma off the field due to injury, bowling changes and field placements were handled by KL Rahul.

To make matters worse, Chahar could only bowl three overs and was forced off the field due to an apparent hamstring injury. It is to be noted that he missed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season due to an injury. He was also not part of the squad for the T20 World Cup 2022, after initially being named among the stand-by players.

The Twitterati were in disbelief as Bangladesh managed to record an above-par score from a state of absolutely nothing at the halfway mark of the innings.

Here are some of the reactions on the social media platform:

Team India need 272 runs to remain alive in the series

The below-average bowling display was capitalized on by Mehidy Hasan and Mahmudullah, who stitched up the highest seventh-wicket partnership against India in ODIs. The mammoth 148-run stand helped Bangladesh post an intimidating total on the board for Team India to chase down.

Dissecting the bowling performance of the Men in Blue, off-spinner Washington Sundar was the pick among the bowlers with figures of 3-37 from his 10 overs. However, his spin bowling partner Axar Patel looked far from his best.

Bowling in the final phase of the innings is also something that has been haunting the visitors in this series. After failing to claim the final wicket in the previous contest, the visitors went on to concede 68 runs in the final five overs as Mehidy Hasan recorded a memorable century.

How should the Men in Blue address their glaring bowling woes? Let us know what you think.

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