“When were you going to bowl Washington Sundar, after returning to India?” - Danish Kaneria baffled by Rohit Sharma’s tactics 

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has lashed out at Indian captain Rohit Sharma over his tactics in the first ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Sunday, December 4. He termed the Men in Blue skipper’s decision to not bowl off-spinner Washington Sundar when Bangladesh’s last pair were at the crease as baffling.

The hosts stunned India by one wicket in the opening ODI of the three-match series on Sunday. Chasing 187, Bangladesh were in deep trouble at 136/9. However, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (38* off 39) and Mustafizur Rahman (10* off 11) added an unbroken 51 for the last wicket to lift their team to a famous win.

Sundar (2/17 from five overs) was one of India’s best bowlers on the day, but Rohit struck to the pacers even as they failed to make an impact. Questioning Rohit’s tactics towards the end of the match, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:

“On the field, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma took so many bad decisions. When were you going to bowl Washington Sundar, after returning to India? What was he doing, I just could not understand.

“Sundar had five overs left. Mustafizur Rahman is a left-hander and every U-16 or U-18 cricketer would know that against a left-handed tailender, if you bowl an off-spinner, he will get you a wicket. Sundar would have got the ball to turn on the surface, but Rohit just did not want to bowl him.”

Sundar got the big wickets of Bangladesh skipper Litton Das (41) and Shakib Al Hasan (29). However, he did not bowl a single delivery after the 26th over of the innings.

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“Too much talk, no implementation” - Kaneria on India’s 2023 World Cup preparations

Reflecting on Team India’s loss in Dhaka, Kaneria stated that there are too many question marks over the side with regard to their 2023 ODI World Cup preparations. He claimed that while there are a lot of discussions, there's not much in the form of implementation.

The former Pakistan cricketer commented:

“It was such a bad, pathetic performance. Remember, we are building up to the World Cup in India. There are so many question marks. Who will be their consistent openers? Who will be the middle-order batters? Which areas will the bowlers bowl in? Too much talk, no implementation.”

Having lost the first ODI, Team India face a must-win situation when they meet the hosts in the second game Dhaka on Wednesday, December 7.