IND vs BAN: WTC Finals Race – As India kept on losing wickets, captain KL Rahul admitted that there was ‘TENSION’ inside the dressing room. But with Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin staging a comeback, it slowly eased up. With nothing the members of Team India could do inside the dressing room, Rahul said they could only trust the “guys in the middle. From 74/7, Ashwin and Iyer stitched together an unbeaten 71-run stand to help India chase 145 on a difficult Day 4 pitch in Mirpur. With that India sealed the series 2-0. Watch India vs Bangladesh Highlights with Insidesport.IN
“You trust the guys in the middle during such situations. We’ve played enough cricket to realise that someone will put their hand up to win us the game. But I’m not going to lie, there was a lot of tension in the dressing room,” KL Rahul said at the presentation.
IND vs BAN: KL Rahul admits to ‘TENSION’ inside dressing room before Iyer and Ashwin’s heroic knocks, says ‘Not going to lie there was tension but had faith in them’
KL Rahul happy with the win despite Bangladesh fightback
On the start of the fourth day of the IND vs BAN 2Nd Test, Team India were 45/4 still needing 100 runs to win. Team India were reduced to 74/7 following the dismissal of Jaydev Unadkat, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel after adding a totl of just 29 runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled brilliantly as his fifer kept Bangladesh in the match. However Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin ensured there was no more hiccups and took the team past finish line with 3 wicket to spare.
A cracking unbeaten 71-run stand between @ShreyasIyer15 (29*) & @ashwinravi99 (42*) power #TeamIndia to win in the second #BANvIND Test and 2⃣-0⃣ series victory 👏👏
Scorecard – https://t.co/CrrjGfXPgL pic.twitter.com/XVyuxBdcIB
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 25, 2022
During the post-match presentation, KL Rahul spoke about wicket being tough to bat but was also happy to take the win.
“It was a tough wicket to bat on, they put us under pressure in both innings. It was a new-ball surface to some extent, once the ball got softer, it was easier to score runs. It was a matter of who plays the new ball better. We did lose a few more wickets than ideal (in the chase) but we got the job done. Will take the win,” KL Rahul said.
A quick glance at India’s position on the WTC table
Following the 2-0 win over Bangladesh, Team India have put themselves in strong contention in the race to the WTC finals. Following the win, Team India continue to be second spot with 58.93 percentage points. Currently, Australia are at the top of the table with 76.92 PCT. India’s next test assignment will be against Australia and they will have to win the series to almost confirm their progression to the final. However, India’s progression will also depend on Australia vs South Africa series as well.
WTC Finals Race: How IND vs BAN 2nd test result changes scenario?
- With the win against Bangladesh, India can now finish with 68.06% points.
- India needed 100 runs with 6 wickets in hand on Day 4 in the Dhaka Test.
- India struggled but Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer helped India pull off a win.
- The win helps India consolidate 2nd spot in WTC table ahead of SouthAfrica and behind Australia.
- For India to reach the WTC FInals, they need to win three of their last four Tests.
- With 4 tests vs leaders Australia, India can only afford 1 loss in 4 games.
- If Australia win the Test series against SouthAfrica 3-0, India need to just win the series against Australia at home.
- If SA bounce back and beat Australia 2-1, SA will be in the fray.
- If SA also win against West Indies 2-0, they will go above India in the race with 69.77%.
- In the case, India need to win 3-1 or 2-0 against Australia.
- The two above series result will ensure India over 60% percentage points.
IND vs BAN: KL Rahul admits to ‘TENSION’ inside dressing room before Iyer and Ashwin’s heroic knocks, says ‘Not going to lie there was tension but had faith in them’
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