Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan rued that the Tigers had not played enough games or faced enough tricky situations in T20I cricket, which led them to lose another close game against India.
His comments came after Bangladesh’s 5-run loss to Team India via the DLS method in a Super 12 clash at Adelaide Oval in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Wednesday (November 2).
Shakib Al Hasan said after the heart-breaking defeat against India in Adelaide: “We don’t play enough close games, and hence, we don’t know how to win those games. Both 185 and the revised target of 151 were acceptable targets. It is unfortunate we didn’t win.”
The skipper further said that “a combination of emotion and lack of experience” shifted the match in favor of Team India’s following the rain interruption in Adelaide.
He explained, “It was a combination of emotion and lack of experience. I think 85 off nine overs, you will take that. Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) had finished his spell. We don’t play too many close games, so we don’t know how to do it.”
Shakib stressed that both teams played in good spirits on Wednesday when the all-rounder was asked if he could have convinced the umpires to start the game at least 15 minutes late, as that would have allowed the outfield to dry a bit more than it did when the match was restarted.
He added, “Did I have an option? Do I have the ability to convince umpires? If we talk about rain break, yes it was crucial as we lost the momentum, but when the ball is wet, scoring runs is easier. It was little slippery, and normally, it suits batting rather than bowling. But both teams played in right spirit.”
Speaking on the game-changing moment, Shakib stated: “In a close match, you can pick a lot of moments (as turning points). Litton’s run-out was crucial. We lost momentum after rain. But you can’t control rain. We were close, but not close enough.”
He further noted, “Most teams should get 52 off five overs with eight wickets in hand. We panicked a bit in the middle overs. We lost momentum in two to three overs big time. If you see in the last two overs, a lot of teams score 30. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t score.”
Shakib said on Litton Das’ run-out: “If Litton slipped on grass once while running, then next time, he should have shown awareness and run on the pitch.”
The veteran all-rounder admitted that the close defeat against India hurt him, but he has confidence that the current set of players has the capability to change things in the coming times.
He signed off by saying, “Our World Cup games against India are close and exciting ones, but we have not been crossing the line. Hope we can change the result as these boys have the capability.”
(With PTI Inputs)
