Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria feels Virat Kohli is struggling with the bat in the ongoing series against Bangladesh. India have already conceded the ODI series with one match still to go.

The Men in Blue lost the second ODI against Litton Das and Co. by five runs in Dhaka. Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh recovered from 69/6 to post 271/7. In response, the Men in Blue were held to 266/9.

Kohli, who opened the innings in place of injured Rohit Sharma, failed to make an impact, scoring only five runs. Shikhar Dhawan also failed to score runs, chipping in with only eight runs. Reflecting on India’s batting performance in the second ODI, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:

“Kohli seems to be struggling in Bangladesh conditions. He is not able to score runs. Dhawan got a classical ball. There was nothing much he could do about it. India were in trouble, but Shreyas Iyer again showed what a class player he is. Also, Axar Patel is emerging as a good all-rounder, who can be relied upon as a match-finisher. He is filling Ravindra Jadeja’s shoes.”

After being reduced to 65/4, Shreyas Iyer (82 off 102) and Axar Patel (56 off 56) added 107 runs for the fifth wicket to lift India. Their dismissals, however, put Bangladesh on top as India fell just short despite Rohit’s (51* off 28) valiant efforts.

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“He didn’t know what to do” – Danish Kaneria on Shardul Thakur

Danish Kaneria also added that all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar also let the team down with their poor batting efforts. Thakur was stumped off Shakib Al Hasan for 7 off 23 balls, while Chahar perished for 11 off 18.

“We have seen Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar’s heroics with the bat, but it is difficult in such conditions. Thakur was in no position to play that stroke when he jumped out of his crease. He didn’t know what to do and he was just gone. When you are gone (in the head), you play such silly strokes. Chahar also failed,” Danish Kaneria added. 

With the series done and dusted, India will look to salvage some pride in the third and final ODI scheduled to take place in Chattogram on December 10.

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