DHAKA: India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan believes his side will bounce back in the three-match One-day International series against Bangladesh despite a shock defeat in the opening match.

“We are very, very confident about tomorrow’s game. This is not the first time we have lost the first game in a series. It’s quite normal so we know how to bounce back from these situations,” Dhawan said in Dhaka ahead of the second match on Wednesday.

Tail-ender Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit an unbeaten 38 and put on a record tenth-wicket stand as Bangladesh edged out India by one wicket to take a 1-0 lead in Sunday’s thriller in Dhaka.

Chasing 187 for victory, the hosts slumped to 136-9 before Mehidy and Mustafizur Rahman put together a 51-run partnership — Bangladesh’s best ever for the final wicket in a successful run chase — to achieve their target with 24 balls to spare.

“It was a low total and at the end they pulled the game back from us which doesn’t happen very often. They played really well so give credit to them,” Dhawan said.

“Where we need improvements were analysed and rectified in a meeting and surely will be creating much more impact in the coming game as well,” he added.

Dhawan said that bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who was in discomfort in the first match, will be available for Wednesday’s match at the same Dhaka venue. “He had a cramp but it was nothing serious,” he said.

Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo said they were unlikely to risk pacer Taskin Ahmed despite his returning to training after recovering from a back injury.

“I’m not sure we want to risk playing him yet. There is a lot of cricket to be played, there are a few Test matches and also (we want to) have the opportunity to keep developing the other fast bowlers,” Domingo said.

The South African added that they were aware of the backlash they might face against India in the second match.

“There’s also a sense that India will come back strong. We have to play better cricket than the first game, particularly with the bat. We can’t get away with it again,” he said.

A win in Wednesday’s game will give Bangladesh their second successive ODI series victory over India, having taken the honours 2-1 the last time India visited Dhaka in 2015.

The third and final match will be held in Chittagong on December 10, followed by two Tests in Chittagong and Dhaka respectively.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2022