Three Indian players, including Captain Rohit Sharma have been ruled out of the third and final ODI against Bangladesh due to their injuries. Injuries continued to hamper India’s tour of Bangladesh. Head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed that Rohit is among the three players who will miss the final ODI against Bangladesh. Dravid stated that Rohit will head to Mumbai to consult an expert.
Talking about the injuries that have plagued the team, the coach stated that they have been unfortunate not to have the full squad at their disposal. A call on the Indian skipper’s participation in the Test series would only be taken after that.
“Rohit will certainly miss the next game, fly back to Bombay, consult with an expert and see how it is and whether he can come back for the Test matches or not, I’m not sure. It’s too soon to say that,” Rahul Dravid said in a post-match press conference.
Deepak Chahar, who only bowled three overs in the second ODI in Dhaka, was also ruled out of the final ODI as was Kuldeep Sen, who missed the match on Wednesday.
“All three of them won’t play the next game for sure,” Dravid said after the game which India lost narrowly after Rohit’s late heroics. The skipper suffered an injury to his thumb while fielding in Bangladesh’s batting innings attempting a catch. The ball hit his thumb and he was seen bleeding as he walked off.
He praised Rohit Sharma’s innings that gave India a chance at winning the match even after suffering a grave injury. “Phenomenal for him to show that courage. He had a dislocation and had to go to the hospital to get it set, stitches in hand, couple of injections. Credit to him he went out and give us a chance,” Dravid said.
Speaking about Iyer’s innings he said, “Yeah it was crucial. The partnership with Axar was beautiful. The result would have been different if they had batted for 30-40 runs but they played well and brought us back into the game.”
Coming to the match, Bangladesh survived a late blitz from an injured Rohit Sharma to secure a narrow five-run win to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.
Playing with a heavily bandaged left thumb, the gallant half-century from the Indian captain could not save India from a consecutive ODI series defeat in Bangladesh as Mustafizur Rahman defended 20 runs from the last over to secure a win for his team.
Ebadot Hossain fired again with the ball and picked up three wickets while centurion Mehidy Hasan Miraz also chipped in with two scalps. Shreyas Iyer top-scored for India with a patient inning of 82 runs.
In a game that ebbed and flowed, India were tottering at 208/7 with no hope of making a match out of the run-chase, but the Indian captain came out to bat and went hell for leather to give the Bangladeshi team a major scare.
The skipper tried to pull a heist at the fag end of the innings but fell short of one big hit on the last ball of the inning. Earlier, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah steadied Bangladesh after an early shock with a 148-run partnership for the seventh wicket to post a challenging 271/7 against India.
Miraz was the top scorer for Bangladesh with an unbeaten 100 of 83 balls while Mahmudullah played a crucial knock of 77 runs of 96 deliveries. For India, Washington Sundar bagged three while Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik claimed two wickets each.
