Bangladesh suffers from a "mental block" in the finals, thinks Mashrafe Mortaza 

Bangladesh lost the Asia Cup 2018 final, despite running India very close.

Mashrafe Mortaza led his team very admirably during the tournament gone by | Getty

Bangladesh Captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said that his team has perhaps developed a "mental block", where they seem to just falter away while approaching the finishing line in big tournament games and finals. 

Mashrafe's concern comes from the fact that Bangladesh has now lost quite a few close encounters over the last few years despite running their opponents very close. 

The latest example being the just concluded Asia Cup 2018 final against India in Dubai, where they made the might of the Rohit Sharma led side batting unit strive hard to chase down the very modest 223 from 50 overs. 

“For some reason, it’s not happening. If we can do it once, maybe it will be easier,” Mortaza said after the team returned to Bangladesh from United Arab Emirates, “Of course there is some mental block. Winning a tournament is important to overcome this hurdle.”

They eventually lost that game but won many hearts. Though Mashrafe felt proud of his men that night, he knows Bangladesh must improve across all departments going forward and possibly, win a title. 

“There is no scope to say that we are happy after losing ... we lacked many things, (but) still we wanted to win it,” he said before signing off with, "But with the mentality the boys played, of course, it was outstanding. I will be disappointed if we don’t see the same mentality or efforts in future.”

(Inputs from ICC)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 02 Oct, 2018

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