Substandard Bangladesh not posing any challenge to India: Aakash Chopra

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra slammed the Bangladesh side as substandard after the 1st T20I in Gwalior. Chopra said that Bangladesh would not be posing any challenge against India.

In Short

• Bangladesh lost to India by 7 wickets in 1st T20I
• Bangladesh batters failed to turn up in Gwalior
• Aakash Chopra slams the Bangladesh side

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra slammed Najmul Shanto's Bangladesh team for poor quality of cricket on Sunday, October 6. Bangladesh, playing their first T20I against India in Gwalior failed to put up a fight with both bat and ball. Not only did they get bowled out for just 127 runs, they let India chase down the target in just 11.5 overs.

Aakash Chopra was left fuming at the side for their poor standards and slammed the team by saying that the Najmul Shanto side was not going to pose any challenge for India in the T20I series.

Speaking via his YouTube channel a day after the first match, Chopra said that Bangladesh were decimated and dominated in Gwalior.

"Decimate, dominate, they were disposed of. Bangladesh guys - what are you doing, what sort of cricket do you play? You didn't even come close. This wasn't a match but a mismatch. India have gone 1-0 ahead. Whoever bowled picked up wickets, and whoever had a bat in his hands hit," Aakash Chopra said after the match in Gwalior.

IND vs BAN, 1st T20I: Highlights | Match Report

"The Indian team are playing like that because, sorry Bangladesh, due respect, but you are not challenging us. You are playing sub-standard cricket. You are playing extremely mediocre cricket. So when you start challenging yourself, you play cricket like this because whoever came, was hitting," Chopra added via his YouTube channel.

The former player compared Hardik Pandya to viral Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, who became a household name after the Paris Olympics.

"Do you remember the Turkish shooter, who had a hand in his pocket in the Olympics? Hardik Pandya was also similar. What swag and attitude. That just defined everything for me. The way he played that (no-look) shot and stood there and looked (at the bowler), there was West Indian swag in that, and the team's swagger," Chopra said.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Shanto was not happy with the team's performance but said that they were better than their performance. Najmul argued that Bangladesh were so used to playing on slow and turning pitches at home that they did not know how to score 180 runs.

Bangladesh will play two more T20Is against India. The matches are scheduled to take place in New Delhi and Hyderabad.