Twitter Reactions: Shakib, Hridoy, Nasum spark gritty Bangladesh fightback in Colombo

Bangladesh are playing their last encounter in Asia Cup 2023 on Friday, September 15, in Colombo against India. Shakib Al Hasan and Co. were ousted from the tournament after losing consecutive Super Four matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Conversely, India defeated those two teams to make it to the finals on Sunday.

At the toss, the two captains announced that they had made five changes each to their playing XI from their respective last matches. In the absence of Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav, India gave a maiden ODI cap to Tilak Varma and also brought in the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, and Shardul Thakur into the side. Meanwhile, Bangladesh handed a debut cap to Tanzim Hasan Sakib and brought Tanzid Hasan, Anamul Haque, Mahedi Hasan, and Mustafizur Rahman into their side.

Rohit invited Bangladesh to bat after winning the toss, and Shami gave India the initial breakthrough when he dismissed Litton Das with a peach. Thakur joined in on the act and picked up a couple of wickets. Axar Patel struck in his first spell as Bangladesh slipped to 59/4 in 14 overs. It seemed as if it would be one-way traffic from this point, but captain Shakib started a fightback alongside the talented Towhid Hridoy. The duo mixed caution with aggression and formed a partnership of 101 runs in 105 balls.

The southpaw was eventually dismissed for a well-compiled 80 off 85 balls as he dragged one back to his stumps off Shardul immediately after a drinks break. Shamim Hossain became the 200th ODI victim of Ravindra Jadeja. Hridoy showed great temperament and rode his luck on occasions to score a patient half-century. The Bangladeshi lower order hasn't come good on too many occasions, but in this game, they stood up to the task as Nasum Ahmed hit a brilliant counterattacking 44 off 45 balls while Mahedi Hasan remained unbeaten on 29 off 23 balls to take the Bangla Tigers to a decent score of 265/8 in their 50 overs.

India weren't at their best on the field, as a few catches were dropped. Shardul was expensive as he conceded 65 runs in 10 overs but also picked up three wickets. Shami was impressive in his eight overs as he conceded 32 runs and picked up two wickets. Axar, Jadeja, and Prasidh chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Reactions on 'X'

No use of Axar #INDvBAN

— Greenwood (@Praveen49828365) September 15, 2023