Bangladesh vs India: I did fancy 230-240 if I batted till end, says KL Rahul after India’s 1st ODI defeat

KL Rahul rued his dismissal in the first ODI against Bangladesh, saying if he had batted till the end then another 30-40 runs could have made the difference.

India suffered a one-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh after Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman put up an unbeaten 51-run partnership for the 10th wicket on Sunday. The stand between the duo became the fourth-highest 10th wicket partnership in a successful ODI chase.

“I would have ideally liked 30-40 more runs towards the end,” Rahul, who played a fighting knock of 73, said in the press conference. “I did fancy 230-240 if I batted till the end. (Mohammed) Siraj was batting well with me, so if I could have batted another 10 overs and got another 30-40 runs, it could have made a difference.”

India had a horrendous day with the bat as the visitors folded on 186 inside 42 overs after Shakib Al Hasan returned with a five-wicket haul and Ebadot Hossain took four wickets. It was KL Rahul who stood tall and scored a fifty, otherwise India were in all sorts of trouble.

In reply, India bowlers did their best and reduced Bangladesh to 136/9 inside 40 overs, with Mohammed Siraj taking three wickets, while Kuldeep Sen and Washington Sundar shared two each. However, Mehidy and Mustafizur denied India the last Bangladesh wicket and took the hosts over the line with 24 balls to spare.

Reflecting on his individual batting, KL Rahul said: “It was just one of those days where, out of everybody else, I looked like I was timing the ball better and the shots that I picked, fortunately for me, went to the boundary, or every option that I took went my way.

“All the preparation happens before the game, so quite pleased with such innings really give you joy as a batter, because you’re challenged and you have to really put your hand up when your team requires, so I enjoyed my batting.”