Bengaluru, March 24 (IANS) Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni wants Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah Riyad to “learn from his mistake”.
The in-form Bangladesh batsmen perished while trying to hit a full toss from Indian fast bowler Hardik Pandya out of the ground when Bangladesh needed just two runs from three balls to pull off a sensational victory over the hosts in a World Twenty20 Group 2 encounter here on Wednesday.
His senior partner Mushfiqur Rahim had departed off the previous delivery, trying to pull a short delivery from Pandya for six.
Both holed out to fielders in the deep as Dhoni took his time re-arranging the field and briefing Pandya after every delivery.
With Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah gone off successive deliveries, Bangladesh failed to even tie up with the Indian score due to a last ball run out and the hosts won by one run, a match even the most ardent Indian supporter had given up as lost.
“In-form bastmen often try to play big shots to finish the game. If that shot by Mahmudullah had crossed the ropes, he would have been hailed as a courageous gutsy batsman. Now he will face criticism for playing such a shot,” Dhoni was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com
And Dhoni’s final advice for the promising Bangladesh batsman: “This is cricket. I hope Mahmudullah will learn from his mistake.”
But despite the loss, the Bangladesh gave India the fright they rarely experience at home.
Before the match, Indian veteran Virender Sehwag had written off Bangladesh.
Commenting on Star Sports, Sehwag had said Bangladesh could be a ‘cake walk’ for the in-form Indian team after the hosts’ facile win over Pakistan.
