Sunil Gavaskar Hails Bangladesh, Says 'Bachchas' Have Grown Up

A promotional video before India's tour to Bangladesh had called the hosts as 'Bachchas' and asked whether they can rise up to the challenge at hand. On Sunday, the team beat India in the second of three ODIs to take an unbeatable lead. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar saluted the effort and the spirit and accepted that the 'Bachchas' have indeed grown up. (Match 2 Report | Highlights | As it Happened)

Bangladesh showcased aggressive cricket to overpower and overwhelm two-time World Champions India in the first two ODIs. Such was their dominance that Gavaskar conceded that the wins were no fluke. "The Bachcha has grown up and is shoulder-to-shoulder with India," he told NDTV on Sunday. "Just look at the margin of wins. These are not wins where Bangladesh have scraped through (but) these have been big and thumping wins." ('Fearless' Bangladesh celebrate rare consistent run)

While the hosts won the first ODI by 79 runs, the second match was bagged by six wickets (D/L method). Gavaskar may have given full marks to Bangladesh for the cricket the team played but he also felt the Indian batting fell apart and contributed to the final results. "Bangladesh was the superior side without any doubt. What went wrong though for India is that the batting just did not click. It has always been the team's strength. Batsmen should have capitalized here," said Gavaskar. (Dhoni Willing to Quit ODI Captaincy)

The Indian cricket team currently has no head coach and instead, is being assisted by a batting, a bowling and a fielding coach - apart from Ravi Shastri, who is the Team Director. Gavaskar feels this cannot be used as an excuse to justify the recent performances. "There is only so much that coaches can do. They can prepare you but at the end of the day, it is the players who have to face the opposition and the batsmen just did not step up," he said.