Bullish MS Dhoni Pushes India vs Bangladesh Rivalry to New High

Revenge, retribution, vengeance - the first One Day International between India and Bangladesh was laced with words like these. The previous Indo-Bangla encounters were occasional bouts where the Bangladesh tigers merely purred while the Men- in-Blue fielded second-string sides to wrap up easy wins. Not anymore as MS Dhoni's men were handed a rude shock on Thursday.

Although India still hold a massive head-to-head record against Bangladesh, the scales have tilted quite drastically. Bangladesh, with a four-pronged pace attack, have stunned the cricket world and are climbing the ICC charts rapidly. (Despite defeat, Suresh Raina taunts Bangladesh)

However, the matches against India have become an emotional roller-coaster for Bangladesh, especially after the 2015 ICC World Cup quarter-final. Although India won that game by a substantial margin, the encounter was marred with umpiring faux pas. The Bangladeshi fans raised a huge furore and the controversy spilled to a level where the ICC's president, Mustafa Kamal, handed in his resignation in protest. (Mustafizur Rahman brings India down to knees)

Three months later, the teams faced each other again. This time at Mirpur. The crowd wanted revenge, the players obliged and the needle was felt throughout the game.

Rod Tucker's goof up

Inside edge, appeal, finger goes up and Dhawan walks - the commentator could hardly finish when there was another appeal. This time for a run out. Dhawan stood flummoxed as the umpire Rod Tucker called him back to the crease.

In the 10th over of the game, Dhawan got an inside edge to a Mashrafe Mortaza delivery. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicket-keeper dived to his right as Mortaza appealed. Tucker, assuming that the catch has been taken, raised his finger. In reality, the keeper dropped the catch and it went unnoticed both by the batsman and the umpire.

Dhawan saw the decision and started to walk when one of the fielders picked up the ball and threw down the stumps. Rod Tucker, in an awkward situation, intervened and called Dhawan back.

In a rivalry that has been soured by umpiring decisions, the Tucker goof up surely added fuel to fire.

Rohit Sharma Bumps into Mustafizur Rahman

The target was steep and the Indian openers were facing a hostile spell of fast bowling. India were under pressure from the very first over to score at a sharp rate, hence every run was important.

In the fifth over of the game, Rohit Sharma called his partner Dhawan for a quick single and charged down the wicket towards the non-striker's end. The bowler Mustafizur stood right in the middle of the pitch and came into Rohit's way. The Indian opener tried to change his course but it was too late to avoid the collision.

Rohit Sharma went up to the bowler and after a bout of finger pointing and verbal combat, the umpires stepped in to cool off matters.

The MS Dhoni shove

The 19-year-old Mustafizur again found himself in the way of an Indian batsman. This time he was knocked down on the Mahi-way! In the second ball of the 25th over, the wiry left-armer from Bangladesh was shoved out of the way by the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Was it intentional?

One can't say because Dhoni was within his right to keep running and it was Mustafizur who should have been more careful, already having come in the way of Rohit Sharma earlier.

The match referee had his say and fined Dhoni 75% of his match fee while Mustafizur had to part ways with 50% of his.

Virat Kohli, the keeper

However, there was a real funny moment in the game, when Virat Kohli donned the wicketkeeper's gloves during the Bangladesh innings.

Kohli, who has never kept wickets in any international match, showed enormous courage and put on Dhoni's gloves as India's premier fast bowler Umesh Yadav marked his run-up. The Indian vice-captain stood at quite a safe distance from the stumps and performed his wicket-keeping duty without the pads.

Dhoni was back in the next over itself but Kohli and India would breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to collect more than one thunderbolt hurled in by Umesh.