Extreme love for Muslims unify both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. If Narendra Modi likened Muslims to ‘puppies’, Amit Shah called Muslims as ‘termites.’ The Indian Muslims and the Bangladeshi Muslims have been at the receiving end from the two communal lovemongers. It was a different day yesterday. Amit Shah’s Bangladeshi ‘termites’ ate giant Team India by one wicket in the first match of the One Day International (ODI) series being played in Termitedesh err… Bangladesh.
The Team India led by Rohit Sharma were consumed by the deadly duo of ‘termites’ Shakib Al Hasan and Ebadot Hossain. They blew away the Indian batting line-up, which could only last till 41.2 overs. They shared five and four wickets respectively. Our team kept things tight for Bangladesh in the 187-run chase and were almost on the brink of a win before tailender ‘termite’ Mehidy Hasan played a blinder of a knock and helped the hosts chase down the target in cool 46 overs only.
Mehidy along with the lean and lanky ‘termite’ Mustafizur Rahman stitched an unbeaten 51-run stand for the final wicket. This was also the second-highest for Bangladesh in ODIs for the tenth wicket. It was also the fourth-highest partnership for the tenth wicket in a successful run-chase in men’s ODIs. Bangladesh were reduced to 136/9 in the 40th over and victory looked really certain for the cricketing giants India. However, Mustafizur Rahman, who generally shines with the ball, saved the day for the underdog Bangladesh by playing a perfect second fiddle, while Mehidy took charge to bite the Indian bowlers in the death overs. Our pop-corn generation of bowlers are often injured after playing in the Indian Premier League. Our team needs a true death overs bowler if we are serious about bringing home the 50-over World Cup. Why was the racing ‘puppy’ who clocks 150 kmph made to sit out? He could have destroyed the ‘termites’ top-order batting.
Mustafizur Rahman arrived in the middle at 39.3 overs. He faced just 11 balls before the giants were consumed. In the 11 deliveries Mustafizur Rahman faced, he scored 10 runs, which also included two hits to the boundaries. Not only that but Mustafizur also made Shardul Thakur look mediocre and he faced him for four consecutive balls in the 45th over, without any difficulties. Why does K L Rahul play with butter on his hands to drop a catch? This turned the match in Bangladesh’s favour. Why is Sanju Samson being given a raw deal by making him consistently sit out match after match?
Why did Rohit Sharma persist with Kuldeep Sen instead of employing the spinners to take the last wicket? Washington Sundar didn’t attempt an easy catch, which left the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma utterly frustrated. On the final ball of the 44th over, Sundar made another mistake, which ended in a boundary and titled the match decisively into Bangladesh’s favour. Sundar needs to sharpen his reflexes in fielding.
Team India must take the lost match as a learning curve. Amit Shah must play the 2nd ODI to tackle the ‘termites’ successfully. The social media warriors should not make our giants’ lives miserable but support them.
