India did not put in a good account of themselves with the bat as they folded up for just 186 in their 50 overs. Rohit Sharma scored just 27 off 31 with four fours and one six. Shikhar Dhawan made a laborious 7 off 17 balls with one four and Virat Kohli made just 9 off 15 balls before getting out to a spectacular piece of fielding from Litton Das. Mehidy Hasan was named the player of the match for his game-changing knock.
KL Rahul has been a big taking point among everyone in the Indian cricket circles. Ever since he returned from injury his form has looked patchy and he has not been able to string inconsistent performances with the bat. He has been labelled as a minnow basher and as a batter who cannot perform in the big matches.
In the first ODI against Bangladesh, Rahul answered his critics and naysayers with the bat in fine fashion by single-handedly shepherding the Indian innings together with a wonderful 73 off 70 balls with five fours and four sixes. This helped India to get to a target of some semblance which was 186 runs. Rahul was under fire from the cricket-crazy fans in India for dropping a dolly of a catch of Mehidy Hasan Miraz on 17 which gave Bangladesh a victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rahul dropped the catch even though he had the gloves on as he was wicketkeeping which further infuriated the fans. All his hard work with the bat was undone in one split second when he dropped the catch that could have won the match for India. Though he earned his spot back at No 5, things ended on a sour note for Rahul.
In a surprise move, India opted to let Rahul don the gloves as Rishabh Pant was out injured and since Sanju Samson was not in the squad, Ishan Kishan was chosen as the backup keeper. This meant that Rahul was pushed back to the middle order to accommodate Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan at the top, something the Karnataka batter did with ease in 2019.
Twitter was fully abuzz, let us take a look at the reactions here:
@BCCI #INDvBAN #indvsbang #RahulDravid & #Rohit must be kicked out of Team scene. #KLRahul𓃵 not expected to keep wickets. So drop catch. A regular keeper is a Must pic.twitter.com/iClENNnCyN
— Beastar1 (@BeAStarIndia) December 4, 2022
KL Rahul be like : Kasta pattu 73run adichu team winner possibility ah increase panni kuduthathellam vitta oru catch la maranthutangale.. nandri ketta ulagamada.. pic.twitter.com/ysy0ayf2tf
— MK (@murali_arem) December 4, 2022
KL Rahul in Bangladesh dressing room after dropped the catch of Mehidy Hasan Miraz 😢😢#KLRahul𓃵 #KLRahul #INDvsBANpic.twitter.com/9aC5wwyaH6
— Ashutosh Srivastava (@kingashu1008) December 5, 2022
Old RCB memes after today's match...😭👈 #RCBvKXIP #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/3a9Bq6ydWa
— Vishal (@vishal_saini_vs) September 24, 2020
“Wicket keeper ke gloves pehen ke kaun catch drop karta hai beta?
— Rajiv Pal Satirism (@coolrajivpal) December 4, 2022
Abhi bhi soch le…”#INDvBAN #BANvIND #KLRahul pic.twitter.com/UAIyQmFfUN
we have wicketkeepers but chance toh kuch bhi ho jaye kl rahul ko hi denge , itna easy catch drop kar diya idiot pic.twitter.com/6nc61AwtFn
— neha (@inlostworlld) December 4, 2022
This feels like Kamran Akmal's style of play by KL- simple catch drop on purpose. They say Kamran Akmal was a match-fixer- Is KL Rahul doing the same? @klrahul pic.twitter.com/irFMaJXPsa
— stfup2000@gmail.com (@ediga_1) December 4, 2022
Rohit Sharma trying to hide behind KL Rahul's drop catch. Kl rahul was the top scorer of the match#INDvsBangladesh pic.twitter.com/S2YSDLs0sg
— Haseeb 🔰 (@with_haseeeb) December 4, 2022
KL Rahul catch dropped two times.
— Surajnaik82 🇮🇳 (@sn_memes_82) September 24, 2020
KL Rahul to RCB: pic.twitter.com/EbJo1VyzoM
@klrahul ur scoring 1 or 2 fifty against week team and u r staying in playing 11 better u retire from cricket and go as a coach to any other team bcz ur catch practising skill are high. The way u got out. @ashwinravi99 plzz convey the meme to street cricketer #dropklrahul @BCCI pic.twitter.com/IsHBWo0lKi
— vigneshwaran (@vickyvanhelsing) November 11, 2022