India might have pulled off an incredible victory against Bangladesh and gave another reason to the fans to rejoice. But one needs to realise that if MS Dhoni and his Men in Blue want to qualify for the semi-final of the ICC World T20 2016, they cannot afford to make certain mistakes they committed against Bangladesh.
India will play Australia in a virtual knockout game irrespective of the result of the match between Pakistan and Australia Friday.
Australia may not have been at their best when it comes to playing in the shortest format of the game, but Team India should be aware of the fact that when the Aussies are put into a must-win situation, they can be very very dangerous. And if similar mistakes are repeated against Steve Smith & co. in Mohali, Sunday, India might just crash out of the tournament.
Let us take a look at those mistakes that India committed against Bangladesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Wednesday:
1. Carelessness of the opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma: The two openers have not been able to provide India with the kind of starts that they got in the beginning of the year against Australia Down Under, and also during the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. For the first time in the ICC World T20 2016, the duo of Sharma and Dhawan looked good at the top of the order. Unfortunately, they did not last for long. Both of them got out in quick succession. India desperately need a good start to their innings in their final match of the group stage against Australia and further in the semi-finals, if Dhoni and co. manage to qualify. By doing that, a lot of pressure will go off Virat Kohli's shoulders in the middle order.
2. R Ashwin bowling three overs in the powerplay : We saw how crucial Ashwin's last over was where he picked the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan and conceded just one run. Dhoni decided to give an extra over to Ashwin during the powerplay overs. If the captain would have kept one more over, that could have made things a little easier for India. Ashwin is Dhoni's go-to-man and he needs to use him carefully. His four overs are absolutely crucial. Nobody is as good as Dhoni when it comes to taking decisions under pressure and the Indian fans are counting on him.
3. Jasprit Bumrah's fielding: Bumrah dropped the catch of Tamim Iqbal when he was looking really dangerous. He could have taken the game away from us, but thanks to Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni, his existence at the crease was shortlived after that drop. But still it cost India around 15-20 runs. Bumrah also leaked a boundary through his legs from the very first ball of the innings.
4. R Ashwin dropped Shakib Al Hasan: At a point it looked like Shakib was in a hurry to finish the game and he was going at a pretty healthy strike rate. Shakib tried to smash one over the deep cover fielder but ended up hitting straight to R Ashwin. All Ashwin had to do is to run in and keep his eyes on the ball and hold on to that catch. Unfortunately, that drop also cost India some more runs. Later, Ashwin made up for that dropped catch and bowled an outstanding over of spin, in which he picked up the wicket of Shakib.
5. Virat Kohli's dismissal: Kohli has been in the form of his life. It never looks like he will not score runs. He came out to bat against Bangladesh on a wicket, which was not a great batting pitch. The batsmen were struggling to find the middle of their willows. The run rate was dropping and therefore the Indian batsmen had to target one bowler. Kohli did target Shuvagata Hom and smashed him for a six in the second ball of his over. He tried a similar shot in the very next ball and Hom castled him. The shot was reckless so to say and Kohli's presence in the middle could have made a lot of difference.
