With Rohit Sharma injuring his thumb, India decided to send former skipper Virat Kohli to open with Shikhar Dhawan in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
But both Kohli and Dhawan failed to give the team a good start and India went on to suffer a narrow five-run defeat against the hosts and lost the series 2-0.
The decision to send Kohli instead of regular opener KL Rahul, who is also discharging the role of the wicketkeeper as Rishabh Pant has been rested for the ODIs, surprised many including former Pakistan captain Salman Butt.
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Butt said Rahul should have opened for the side since he had been a specialist opener for the Indian team in the shortest format of the game.
In an analysis of India’s defeat to Bangladesh in the series on his official Youtube channel, Butt said the Indian team management should not have tried to shield Rahul as the keeper-opener role has been essayed quite successfully by the likes of Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara and currently Quinton de Kock does it for South Africa.
“Rohit Sharma got injured, so obviously Virat Kohli did not open. Aapke paas KL Rahul is regular opener, vo kyun nahi gaye open karne? This is why wicketkeeping ki hui thi. There are many players in the world who are open to wicketkeeping. Adam Gilchrist is doing it, Kumar Sangakkara is doing it, Quinton de Kock is doing it, what is your fitness? strange things. (Rohit Sharma got injured and Virat Kohli opened. But you have a regular opener in KL Rahul, why did he not open? Some will argue that Rahul had kept wickets, but there have been a lot of players who have opened for the side after keeping wickets, like Gilchrist, Sangakkara and Quinton de Kock. Is Rahul not as fit as them? It’s very weird),” Butt said.
“Cheezein settled nahi hain. It seems that the practice is going on (Things are not settled. It seems India were taking it as a practice match),” Butt added.
He was not surprised at Bangladesh beating India in successive ODIs and taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series as they are quite a strong side in home conditions.
He said Bangladesh at home have defeated teams like Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand besides India in the last few years and are unbeaten at home for many years.
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