Bangladesh’s technical consultant, Sridharan Sriram, said that they are not going to use the "fake fielding" episode as an excuse for the heartbreaking five-run loss via DLS method to India in their previous Super 12 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 at Adelaide Oval.
While an incident of "fake fielding" by Virat Kohli is a hot topic for debate among the cricket fraternity, Sriram stressed that Bangladesh lost the close match to Team India because of being under a lot of pressure, but it was a great learning experience for the Tigers.
Sridharan Sriram said at the pre-match press conference ahead of Bangladesh vs Pakistan match: “No, we are not here to offer any excuses. I did speak to the fourth umpire as soon as it happened. But I think it was the on-field umpire’s call, and that’s what we were told, but we’re not here to offer any excuses.”
Notably, Bangladesh needed 85 runs in nine overs with all wickets in hand after the match resumed following rain delay, but they crumbled under pressure against India.
Speaking on the same, Sriram added, “Well, it was quite frantic for that brief 10, 12 minutes, which is understandable. I think the boys, nine runs an over or 9.75 runs an over, definitely I think the pressure got to them a little bit.”
However, Sriram said the Bangladesh team has gained a lot of confidence from the close defeat against India in Adelaide. He said, “Well to come that close, if at the start of the game had anybody said that we’ll lose to India by five runs, anybody would take it.”
He signed off by saying, “So, I think we got ourselves in an opportunity where we’re could have beaten India but we were not able to cross the line. But having come to close, I think the boys gained a lot of confidence. It’s a great learning for them. I think it gives the team a lot of self-belief that if you can challenge a team like India and come so close, we are not far away.”
(With PTI Inputs)
