New Delhi: Bangladesh’s pathetic peformance in the T20 World Cup has forced their skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto to apologise to his countrymen.
He blamed his team’s poor batting form for their doomed campaign after it ended with a loss to Afghanistan, who entered the semi-finals for the first time.
Bangladesh need to beat the Afghans to have a chance to enter the semis but failed to reach a target of 115 runs, getting bowled out for 105 when they needed to reach the target in 12.1 overs in the Super Eights clash.
“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 after the match in Kingstown.
“We feel sorry for that. We will try to come out of this situation in the future.”
Yet even in this pall of gloom, Shanto said there were some glimpses of hope, particularly the form of bowlers.
“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 added.
Shanto also felt they shpuld have beaten Afghanistan by chasing down 115 runs.
“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,” he said.
Shanto blamed Bangladesh’s poor batting form for their doomed T20 World Cup campaign after it ended with a loss to Afghanistan, who entered the semi-finals for the first time. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
