Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has apologised to the cricket-loving fans of his nation for their shambolic performance in the T20 World Cup and blamed his batting unit for the disappointing run that ended with a defeat against a gritty Afghanistan in Kingstown on Monday.
After India beat Australia on Sunday, both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had realistic chance of making the semifinals but it was the Rashid Khan-led team that defended a below par 115 to make the last-four stage.
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Bangladesh needed to knock off the target in 12.1 overs but there were all out for 105 in rain-marred Super Eight contest.
“First of all, I would like to say that as a team, we let down all the fans of Bangladesh who follow us and support us. So, I apologise on behalf of the team. As a batting group, we couldn’t give the best to the people of the country,” Shanto said at the post-match press conference.
“We feel sorry for that. We will try to come out of this situation in the future.”
Crestfallen he may be, but Shanto drew some positives form the campaign.
“The positive side is that the bowlers have bowled very well. Rishad (Hossain) has bowled very well in almost all matches in a big tournament like this. There were a lot of positives, but as a batting unit, we let down the fans and the people of our country.
“We gave them a hard time. But there was no lacking in our efforts. Everyone tried their best. Everyone was honest in their place. But at the end of the day, we couldn’t make it. So, on behalf of the team, I apologise,” he reiterated.
Shanto admitted that they had control of the proceedings against Afghanistan at one stage and should have won.
“As a whole bowling unit doing a great job especially, I mentioned Rishad whole tournament he bowled really well, Tanzim Sakib bowled well. I felt all the bowlers did a great job that is we can take forward and as a fielding group I think we felt really well in all the matches, so there are some lot of positive things that we can take going forward.
“It’s a matter of a lot of frustration and a lot of pain too. Because before coming to play this match, everyone’s plan was that we would win the match first. But if such a situation arises, then we will definitely take the chance that we had. But we couldn’t take it. And the whole batting line-up made very bad decisions.”
Asked if Bangladesh let it slip by not scoring enough runs in the powerplay and later Mahmudullah playing too many dot balls, Shanto said: “The plan was that we would try to score in the first six overs. If we start well and we don’t lose the early wickets, then we will take the chance. But when we lost three early wickets, our plan was different.
“Our plan was how we could win the match then. Because our plan was to win the match. I would say that the middle order didn’t make a good decision. Because of this, I think we lost the match.”
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