“Kohli seems to be struggling in Bangladesh conditions” - Danish Kaneria analyzes Team India’s batting woes

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria reckons that Team India batter Virat Kohli is finding it difficult to deal with conditions in Bangladesh. Analyzing India’s batting in the ODI series so far, he praised Shreyas Iyer as a class act but added that a few seniors are struggling.

India went down to Bangladesh by five runs in the second ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday, December 7. Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh recovered from 69/6 to post 271/7. In response, the Men in Blue were held to 266/9.

Opening the innings in place of the injured Rohit Sharma, Kohli was bowled for five, dragging a delivery from Ebadot Hossain back onto his stumps. Shikhar Dhawan (eight), on the other hand, got a brute from Mustafizur Rahman and gave a simple catch to the point fielder.

Reflecting on India’s batting performance in the second ODI, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:

“Kohli seems to be struggling in Bangladesh conditions. He is not able to score runs. Dhawan got a classical ball. There was nothing much he could do about it. India were in trouble, but Shreyas Iyer again showed what a class player he is. Also, Axar Patel is emerging as a good all-rounder, who can be relied upon as a match finisher. He is filling Ravindra Jadeja’s shoes.”

After the Men in Blue lost four wickets for 65 runs, Shreyas (82 off 102) and Axar (56 off 56) added 107 runs for the fifth wicket to lift India. Their dismissals, however, put Bangladesh on top as India fell just short despite Rohit’s (51* off 28) heroics.

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“After Shreyas got out, Axar should have shown some patience” - Danish Kaneria

While praising Axar, Kaneria also opined that the left-handed batter should have shown some patience after Shreyas’ dismissal.

According to the 41-year-old, Axar's choice of stroke against Bangladesh pacer Hossain was the wrong one. He stated:

“After Shreyas got out, Axar should have shown some patience. The stroke he tried against Ebadot Hossain, a guy bowling 135 kph-plus, was not on. It was too early. He should have taken over after Shreyas’ exit.”

Kaneria added that all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar also let the team down with their poor batting efforts. He stated:

“We have seen Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar’s heroics with the bat, but it is difficult in such conditions. Thakur was in no position to play that stroke when he jumped out of his crease. He didn’t know what to do and he was just gone. When you are gone (in the head), you play such silly strokes. Chahar also failed.”

While Thakur was stumped off Shakib Al Hasan for 7 off 23 balls, Chahar perished for 11 off 18, trying to take on Hossain.