IND vs BAN Highlights: Shubman Gill’s incredible knock of 121 runs and Axar Patel’s fighting 42 went in vain as Bangladesh defeated the tournament finalists in their final Asia Cup 2023 Super-4 stage match on Saturday (September 17). When asked to share his opinion on the defeat, captain Rohit Sharma defended the team management’s decision to make big changes in their playing XI. India’s Super 4 match against Bangladesh was an inconsequential fixture and the team management decided to test their bench strength by fielding players — Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna — who weren’t able to play in previous matches in the tournament.
In the aftermath of India’s loss, Rohit said idea was to give some game time for the cricketers ahead of 2023 ODI World Cup.
“We wanted to give some game time to the guys, keeping the bigger picture in mind. Not compromising on how we wanted to play this game. Get in some players who are likely to play the World Cup,” Rohit Sharma said.
Axar Patel took the match really deep with his heroic effort (42) but fell short in the end as Bangladesh achieved an unexpected 6-run win over Asia Cup 2023 finalists. Rohit was all praise for the star all-rounder, he said:
“Axar batted brilliantly but couldn’t finish. He showed a lot of character. But credit to the Bangladesh bowlers. Gill’s hundred was brilliant. He backs his game, he knows exactly how he wants to play. Pretty clear on what he wants to do for the team. Look at his form over the last year. Pretty solid against the new ball. Works really hard, there’s no optional practice for Gill,” Rohit added while analysing the loss.
