(AP Photo)
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has expressed regret to the passionate cricket fans of his country for their dismal performance in the T20 World Cup. He attributed their disappointing run, culminating in a loss to Afghanistan in Kingstown on Monday, to the failures of his batting lineup.
With India’s victory over Australia on Sunday, both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had realistic opportunities to reach the semifinals. However, it was Rashid Khan’s team that successfully defended a modest total of 115, securing their spot in the last four.
Bangladesh had a target of chasing down the required runs within 12.1 overs but faltered, getting all out for 105 in a rain-interrupted Super Eight match.
“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.”
Despite feeling disheartened, Shanto managed to find some silver linings in 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.
“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.”
When questioned about whether Bangladesh missed an opportunity by not scoring more runs during the powerplay, and Mahmudullah facing too many dot balls later on, Shanto responded: “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.”
