Miraz miracle at Mirpur

Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz plays a shot against India during the first ODI in Mirpur yesterday. Pic/PTI

Bangladesh's last wicket pair of Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Mustafizur Rahaman pulled off an absolute heist with a thrilling 51-run stand as India choked during final half an hour to lose a low-scoring opening ODI by one wicket here on Sunday. While India produced yet another poor batting show which saw them get all out for 186 in 41.2 overs, the bowlers did a splendid job to reduce Bangladesh to 136 for 9 in the 40th over.

However, KL Rahul, who was entrusted with 'keeping duties to fit him and another veteran Shikhar Dhawan in the same XI, dropped an aerial sitter when Bangladesh still needed 32 runs. Washington Sundar also didn't go for an easy catch at third man earning the wrath of skipper Rohit Sharma as Miraj (38 not out off 39 balls) along with Mustafizur (10 not out) got the team past the finishing line in exactly 46 overs.

Match-winning stand

The 51-run stand between Miraj and Mustafizur was Bangladesh's highest 10th wicket partnership and the fourth-highest 10th wicket partnership in a successful ODI chase. On a track that assisted both seamers and spinners, Indian top-order barring Rahul (73 off 70 balls) flopped badly to be bowled out for a score below 200.

But the total that looked eminently gettable at the break turned into a sizeable one due to lion-hearted efforts from Mohammed Siraj (3-32), Shardul Thakur (1-21) and Washington Sundar (2-17). Debutant Kuldeep Sen's (2-37) pace was used to hit him for three sixes - two of them during the slog overs while Deepak Chahar (1-32), despite providing a first-ball breakthrough, looked pedestrian towards the end when there was no nip in the air. In the end, Miraj ensured that hosts didn't suffer a setback in a game which should have been won with their bowling effort alone.

Also Read: India vs Bangladesh 2022: Full schedule, time and date

Rahul delights

Earlier, Rahul struck 73 off 70 balls on a day when the others struggled to get going and when the side was packed with all-rounders. Rahul hit five fours and four sixes. India's innings lasted 41.2 overs with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan (5-36) doing most of the damage.

Opting to field, Mustafizur Rahman started the proceedings with a maiden, before India skipper Rohit Sharma opened the visitors' boundary count by smashing Hasan Mahmud through the gap between point and cover.Bangladesh skipper Litton Das effected an early bowling change, bringing in off-spinner Miraz into the attack in the fourth over, and he started on a tidy note before castling Dhawan for seven.

Pant released from one-day squad

The Indian team on Sunday announced that they have released wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for the ODI series against Bangladesh. A statement from the BCCI said Pant was released after consultation with its medical staff and that no replacement will be sought by the team in his absence, without mentioning specific details on why the left-hander will not take part in ODIs against Bangladesh. Pant is expected to link up with the team ahead of the two-match Test series.

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