Former India head coach Ravi Shastri opened up on the Rohit Sharma-led side's shock defeat to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Super 4 clash on Friday. Shastri feels India let the game slip out of their grasp by allowing Bangladesh to score extra 50 to 60 runs. Bangladesh were reeling at 59 for 4 at one stage before making a strong recovery to post 265 for 8. Speaking of the defeat, Shastri feels it's a great learning curve for the team ahead of Sunday's final against Sri Lanka at the same venue.
"Firstly, think we let them score 50-60 extra runs. The kind of position they were in, we shouldn't have allowed them to score more than 180. Secondly, this is a good work out for India. Forget about the result as they will play the final. They were batting for the first time under lights. It was a different challenge for the batters with the ball moving," Shastri said on Star Sports.
Shastri was all praise for Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan for utilising his resources, adding that they have a strong spin attack.
"For Shubman Gill, this is a big step. He took his time and scored a hundred. Plus, Bangladesh's spin attack is a good one. They took two early wickets with the pacers but the match started after they introduced spin. It's not easy to score between 15-40 overs. Shakib is a smart captain who knows how to marshal his spinners," he added.
Rohit's India face Sri Lanka in Sunday's Asia Cup final, a crucial momentum-builder heading into next month's ODI World Cup.
The cricketing giants have 13 Asian titles between them and Sri Lanka have a history of sneaking into the tournament's final -- to the consternation of fans keen for any showdown between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
Sri Lanka, who won the previous edition of the Asia Cup played in the T20 format, came in as underdogs and snuck into the Super Fours with a dramatic win over Afghanistan.
However, they will be without the services of Maheesh Theekshana, ruled out of the final due to a grade three hamstring tear.