“Such kind of captaincy and bowling is not acceptable” - Rajkumar Sharma hits out at Team India after shocking loss to Bangladesh

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma was extremely critical of Team India’s bowling as well as Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the first ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Sunday, December 4. He described the performance of the bowlers and the skipper in the death overs as “unacceptable”.

Team India went down to Bangladesh by one wicket in the opening ODI to concede a crucial 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Batting first after losing the toss, the visitors were bundled out for 186 in 41.2 overs.

In response, the Men in Blue bowlers reduced Bangladesh to 136/9. However, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (38* off 39) lifted the hosts to a terrific one-wicket victory.

While praising Bangladesh, Sharma hit out at Team India for losing the game from a seemingly impregnable position. He told India News:

“Agreed that India’s bowlers are not that experienced. But if you cannot get the No.11 out, then it’s a big cause for concern. Such kind of captaincy and bowling is not acceptable. There are no words to describe this loss.”

Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman (10* off 11) added 51 runs for the last wicket to take Bangladesh home to an improbable win. Apart from the bowling, Rohit’s tactics also came in for a lot of criticism as he failed to stop the flow of runs.

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“Too much experimentation is going on” - Rajkumar Sharma on Team India’s inconsistent run

Reflecting on India’s defeat in Dhaka, Sharma urged the think tank to get its act together and shun all needless experiments. According to the 57-year-old, the Men in Blue are losing focus by trying out too many things. He elaborated:

“Too much experimentation is going on. Two different teams are playing at the same time. India need to play like a settled outfit with a proper strategy. They need to have a template in place. Do they want to be 60/0 after 10 overs or 80/3? Players’ roles need to be defined, and they need to be given that clarity and confidence.”

Sharing his views, former Team India stumper Saba Karim added that the time has come for the management to accept that something is going wrong. He explained:

“They are not addressing the main issue. They still feel like such ups and downs happen in cricket and the players will do well going forward. The problem can only be solved when you first believe that there is a problem.”

Team India will now take on Bangladesh in the second ODI of the three-match series in Dhaka on Wednesday, December 7.