‘Aur rest do Virat ko’ – Fans fume as India suffer 6-run loss to Bangladesh in last Super Fours clash of Asia Cup 2023

India and Bangladesh clashed against each other in the last match of the Super Fours stage in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. The contest was held at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday, September 17. The Men in Blue suffered a 6-run loss ahead of the final match against Sri Lanka.

Talking about the match India won the toss and opted to bowl and the bowlers were right on the money from the start. Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur posed questions to the batters as they got the ball to move around nicely. The Bangladeshi top-order was caught napping and their side was placed precariously at 59/4. 

It was their ever-reliable skipper Shakib Al Hasan who bailed them out of trouble and was accompanied by Towhid Hridoy from the other end. The Bangladeshi skipper was nearing the century but Thakur nipped him out in the 34th over of the innings. Shakib missed a well-deserved century by 20 runs in which he hit 6 fours and 3 sixes. 

However, there were good contributions from Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan down the order helped Bangladesh to go past 250. Thakur was the highest wicket-taker for the Indian team as he took 3 wickets in his 10-over quota. Shami was also brilliant with the ball as he picked 2 wickets and conceded only 32 runs in 8 overs.

Brilliant bowling performance by Bangladesh

Chasing the target, Bangladesh young 20-year-old debutant Tanzim Hasan Sakib gave shockwaves to the Indian camp by dismissing Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma inside the first powerplay. However, then Shubman Gill and KL Rahul steadied the ship and stitched a 57-run stand for the 3rd wicket.

But then, Bangladesh’s spin department started troubling Indian batters as they started losing wickets at a regular interval of time. Gill kept one end safe but was not getting support from the other end. The right-handed opener smashed a magnificent century and took the team closer to the target.

However, he failed to finish the match of the team and departed after scoring 121 runs off 133 balls which included 8 fours and 5 sixes. Axar Patel tried really hard to help the team to win the match but he also fell at the crucial stage as India lost the match by 6 runs.

Here’s how fans reacted: