No surprise Bangladesh won: Gavaskar

“India was beaten by the better side,” is how batting legend Sunil Gavaskar described Thursday’s ODI match at Mirpur. The Tigers comfortably beat the former world champions by 79 runs with a brilliant all-round performance to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Gavaskar said the Bangladesh Premier League was one of the reasons behind the team’s rise in the limited-over cricket. There was an extra edge in the India-Bangladesh encounters. The cricket pundit believes it is because the teams feel they are on the same level. “Bangladesh may not feel as confident in the Test level as they do in the limited overs,” he told NDTV in an interview. But in the limited overs games, they felt they were as good, he said. “That’s why they are not prepared to give an inch, whether it’s in the field or having a follow-through situation like we saw,” he said referring to the mid-pitch collision between Indian captain MS Dhoni and seamer Mustafizur Rahman. Both players have been fined for the incident. Bangladesh lost to India in the last World Cup quarterfinal and many fans attributed the loss to ‘controversial’ on-field decisions. Cricket fans from across the country viewed Thursday’s thumping victory as ‘revenge’ for the loss. But skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza made it clear at the post-match briefing that they were averse to the idea. “Many things may happen during a match but we go to the same hotel together after a match and hang out there,” he said. Bangladesh jumped to the seventh spot in ODI ranking, brightening their prospects of qualifying for the 2017 Champions Trophy. Indian skipper Dhoni praised the Tigers for playing “some really good cricket as a team”. Debutant left-arm pacer Mustafizur claimed five wickets in the match to knock the wind out of India’s sails. India were all out for 228 in 46 overs chasing 308. Bangladesh recently whitewashed Pakistan in a three-match ODI series. Gavaskar said Bangladesh were playing a lot more limited-over games and were improving. “Their performance at the World Cup was terrific,” he said. “It’s no surprise that they won the first one day,” according to bdnews24.com.