Mirpur: India on Sunday slumped to a new low as they suffered their first ever ODI series defeat against Bangladesh following an embarrassing six-wicket defeat in the second cricket One-dayer that gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, here.
Young Bangladeshi paceman Mustafizur Rehman (6/43) yet again tormented the Indian batsmen with his second successive six-wicket haul as the visitors folded for 200 in 45 overs.
The 19-year-old young left-arm pacer from remote Satkhira village became only the second bowler in ODI history to record two five-wicket hauls in his first two matches. Zimbabwe pacer Brian Vitori is the only other bowler to get two fifers in as many ODIs first up.
Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan made a useful contribution of 53 runs while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (47) looked horribly out of touch in his innings. The only significant stand of the Indian innings was between Dhawan and Virat Kohli (23) as they added 74 for the second wicket.
Due to rain interruption late in the Indian innings, the hosts were set a target of 200 in 47 overs and the Bangladeshi went about their job fearlessly , overhauling the total with nine overs to spare.
It was highly disappointing show by the star-studded Indians, who were outclassed in all departments of the game by the spirited Bangladeshis who are now on a roll with a string of good performances.
Bangladesh have been doing well of late in world cricket from reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup to blanking Pakistan 3-0 in a recent ODI series. This series-win has certainly enhanced their reputation and they can not be considered Asian minnows anymore.
Bangladesh have also qualified for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in England, following this series win.
The home batsmen went about their business without any fuss as openers Tamim Iqbal (13) and Soumya Sarkar (34) stroked confidently from the word go.
The openers did not put up a great stand but all the following batsmen contributed and made it an easy chase, much to the delight of the home fans.
Tamim was lucky to survive early when he had not even opened his account as the catch taken by Virat Kohli off Dhawal Kulkarni was not found clean by the umpires.
However, Kulkarni had Tamim (13) caught in the slip region in the seventh over when the left-hander edged an away going ball and Shikhar Dhawan took a simple catch.
Litton Das (36), Mushfiqur Rahim (31) and experienced Shakib Al Hasan (51 not out) batted with a lot of determination, foiling all attempts of the Indians of making a comeback.
The Indian pacers and spinners posed no threat except for a few balls when the ball either turned sharply or bounced high. However the Indian bowlers lacked consistency and more than that the home batsmen played with a lot of purpose.
Earlier, electing to bat in a must-win encounter of the three-match series, India kept losing wickets as Bangladesh bowlers once again showed their might.
Five Indian batsmen failed to reach double figures with three left without troubling the scorers including Ambati Rayudu, who was a surprise replacement of Ajinkya Rahane.
The Indian opener though was guilty of playing a loose shot away from his body and sliced it to point.
It was Kohli broke lose in the ninth over to bring India’s fifty with a six at long on.
A brief rain interruption did not deter the batsmen from going for their runs but Nasir trapped Kohli leg before in the 13th over to bring alive the capacity crowd at Shere Bangla National Stadium. Kohli’s poor form has been of some concern as he has got one century in the last 14 games with no score in excess of 50 in other games.
Dhoni promoted himself up the order to do the repair job with Dhawan, who registered his third ODI fifty.
The wicketkeeper-batsman had a lucky escape after being dropped by Litton Das, keeping wickets for the hosts, trying to paddle sweep turning delivery from Nasir.
Nasir though was rewarded for his persistence as he struck a couple of balls later to get Dhawan caught behind after the left-hander tried to come down the track to drive a widish spinning delivery.
Medium-pacer Robel Hossain soon got Ambati Rayudu (0) to spell trouble for the visitors. Trying to dab at a short delivery, Rayudu was caught at point with Nasir taking a good catch.
Suresh Raina (34) then joined Dhoni at the crease as the duo stitched a 53-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
But the in-form Mustafizur got Raina caught behind in the 36th over. Trying to cut a shortish delivery close to his body, Raina edged the ball as Das safely gloved it behind the stumps.
With his tail up, Mustafizur got the prized wicket of Dhoni with another lethal cutter that the veteran batsman was unable to read and lobbed the ball to short cover.
The left-armer then got the crowd on its feet by trapping Axar Patel LBW to be on a hat-trick.
The hat-trick ball was averted by Ravichandran Ashwin (4) but the youngster looked destined for another fifer after getting the Indian all-rounder trapped LBW in his ninth over.
Ravindra Jadeja (19 not out) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2 not out) were at the crease when the match saw another rain interruption in the 44th over. (PTI)
