Kingstown Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has apologized to his nation's cricket-loving fans for his chaotic performance in the T20 World Cup and blamed his batting unit for the disappointing run that ended with a defeat against a brave Afghanistan here.
After India beat Australia on Sunday, both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had a real chance of reaching the semi-finals, but it was the Rashid Khan-led team that defended a sub-par 115 to reach the quarter-finals.
Bangladesh needed to knock down the target in 12.1 overs but were all bowled out for 105 in the rain-marred Super Eight contest.
"First of all, I would like to say that as a team, we disappointed all the Bangladesh fans who follow and support us. So I apologize on behalf of the team. As a batting group, we could not give our best for the people of the country," Shanto said at the post-match press conference.
"We are sorry. We will try to get out of this situation in the future."
He may be despondent, but Shanto took some positives from the campaign.
"The positive side is that the bowlers have bowled very well. Rishad (Hossain) has bowled very well in almost every match in a big tournament like this. There were a lot of positives, but as a batting unit, we disappointed the fans. and the people of our country.
"We gave them a hard time. But our efforts were not lacking. Everyone did their best. Everyone was honest in their place. But at the end of the day, we couldn't do it. So, on behalf of the team, I ask sorry," he reiterated.
Shanto admitted that at one point they were in control of the proceedings against Afghanistan and should have won.
"As the entire bowling unit did a great job especially, I mentioned Rishad throughout the tournament, he played very well, Tanzim Sakib played well. I felt that all the bowlers did a great job and we can move forward and as a fielding group, I think I felt very good in all the games, so there are many positive things that we can take forward.
"It is a matter of a lot of frustration and also a lot of pain. Because before coming to play this match, everyone's plan was for us to win the match first. But if such a situation arises, then we will definitely take the opportunity that we did, but not "We could handle it. And the entire batting lineup made very bad decisions."
Asked if Bangladesh let him get away by not scoring enough runs in the powerplay and then Mahmudullah playing too many dots, Shanto said: "The plan was that we would try to score in the first six overs. If we start well and we don't" . If we lose the first few wickets, then we will take the opportunity. But when we lost first three wickets, our plan was different.
"Our plan was how to win the match at that time. Because our plan was to win the match. I would say the middle order didn't make a good decision. That's why I think we lost the match."
After India beat Australia on Sunday, both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had a real chance of reaching the semi-finals, but it was the Rashid Khan-led team that defended a sub-par 115 to reach the quarter-finals.
Bangladesh needed to knock down the target in 12.1 overs but were all bowled out for 105 in the rain-marred Super Eight contest.
"First of all, I would like to say that as a team, we disappointed all the Bangladesh fans who follow and support us. So I apologize on behalf of the team. As a batting group, we could not give our best for the people of the country," Shanto said at the post-match press conference.
"We are sorry. We will try to get out of this situation in the future."
He may be despondent, but Shanto took some positives from the campaign.
"The positive side is that the bowlers have bowled very well. Rishad (Hossain) has bowled very well in almost every match in a big tournament like this. There were a lot of positives, but as a batting unit, we disappointed the fans. and the people of our country.
"We gave them a hard time. But our efforts were not lacking. Everyone did their best. Everyone was honest in their place. But at the end of the day, we couldn't do it. So, on behalf of the team, I ask sorry," he reiterated.
Shanto admitted that at one point they were in control of the proceedings against Afghanistan and should have won.
"As the entire bowling unit did a great job especially, I mentioned Rishad throughout the tournament, he played very well, Tanzim Sakib played well. I felt that all the bowlers did a great job and we can move forward and as a fielding group, I think I felt very good in all the games, so there are many positive things that we can take forward.
"It is a matter of a lot of frustration and also a lot of pain. Because before coming to play this match, everyone's plan was for us to win the match first. But if such a situation arises, then we will definitely take the opportunity that we did, but not "We could handle it. And the entire batting lineup made very bad decisions."
Asked if Bangladesh let him get away by not scoring enough runs in the powerplay and then Mahmudullah playing too many dots, Shanto said: "The plan was that we would try to score in the first six overs. If we start well and we don't" . If we lose the first few wickets, then we will take the opportunity. But when we lost first three wickets, our plan was different.
"Our plan was how to win the match at that time. Because our plan was to win the match. I would say the middle order didn't make a good decision. That's why I think we lost the match."
