India showed arrogance and complacency against Bangladesh in 1st ODI

India capitulated to a 79-run loss in the first One-Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh at Mirpur. A loss to Bangladesh is not as shocking now as it was even five years ago, but the manner of the defeat suggested arrogance and complacency on India’s part, feels Shiamak Unwalla.

Bangladesh are no longer minnows. Since their 5-0 “Banglawash” of Zimbabwe late in 2014, they have reinvented the way they play ODI cricket. They showed in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 that they possessed batsmen proficient in playing long innings and bowlers capable of holding their own against quality batters. The 3-0 routing of Pakistan only strengthened that belief. READ: Overconfident India succumb to humiliating defeat against Bangladesh in 1st ODI

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So when India sent a full-strength squad to face the Bangla Tigers at home, it seemed like a prudent acceptance of Bangladesh’s upcoming ability. However, the way the Indian batsmen went about their jobs in the first ODI suggested a sense of overconfidence that ultimately resulted in a huge loss. READ: Was MS Dhoni right in pushing Mustafizur Rahman aside?

The bowlers looked rusty, but it was the batsmen who truly let the team down. A look at the wickets of the top seven batsmen reveals a lot. Shikhar Dhawan was one of the few batsmen to get done in by a genuinely good ball. He was caught behind trying to upper-cut a short ball. To Taskin Ahmed‘s credit, he got the ball to rise more sharply than Dhawan anticipated, and the ball followed Dhawan as well. Video: MS Dhoni pushes Mustafizur Rahman in India vs Bangladesh 1st ODI at Mirpur

Virat Kohli played a terrible shot, flashing at a nothing delivery wide outside the off stump only to edge Taskin to Mushfiqur Rahim. Kohli was on one off three balls at this point. Next to go was Rohit Sharma, who was batting quite well till that point.

He tried to work a ball from debutant Mustafizur Rahman to the on side only to see it balloon in the air off the leading edge. At 115 for 3, one would have expected Ajinkya Rahane to play a sensible innings. Instead, he reached for a ball that was almost where a sixth stump would have been, and did not bother trying to keep it down. He was caught at covers as India slipped further. READ: Mustafizur Rahman takes five wickets on ODI debut, becomes 10th man to do so

MS Dhoni was soon walking back as well, trying to drive a slower one from Shakib Al Hasan that turned sharply. It was a good ball, but given that Dhoni is a good player of turn and seeing how the conditions were conductive to spin, one would have expected better from Dhoni. READ: Bangladesh inflict record defeat on India

Suresh Raina was batting fluently till Mustafizur produced a peach; the ball was wide but came in sharply to take the inside edge onto the stumps. Like Dhawan, Raina’s dismissal could have been avoided, but the credit goes to the bowler. Ravindra Jadeja was India’s final hope, but he played a ridiculous hoick when it was absolutely unnecessary and ended up giving Mustafizur his fifth wicket on debut.

The body language India displayed was a far cry from the intense, tenacious bunch that stormed into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semi-final. They clearly underestimated Bangladesh and paid a dear price for it. Gone are the days when such a victory could be called fluke for Bangladesh. This was a professional all-round display, and India will have to pull up their socks and give Bangladesh the respect that is due to them in the coming matches.

India tour of Bangladesh, 2015: Complete coverage

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)