Shakib Al Hasan concerned with Bangladesh batting despite win vs Netherlands – Losing wickets wasn’t helping us

T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan reckoned that his team’s batters should have performed a tad better in the match against the Netherlands on Monday.

Losing wickets wasn’t helping us: Shakib concerned with BAN batting. Courtesy: Reuters

By India Today Web Desk: Skipper Shakib Al Hasan wasn’t overly happy despite Bangladesh’s nine-run win over the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match. On Monday, October 24, the Tigers opened their account in the tournament after a clinical show from the pacers, especially Taskin Ahmed, who won the Player of the Match award for figures of 4-0-25-4.

While he praised Taskin and the pace-bowling contingent, Shakib reckoned that Bangladesh weren’t quite up to the mark with the bat in hand. After being put in to bat first, the Tigers got off to a steady start courtesy of a 43-run partnership for the opening wicket off 5.1 overs between Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar.

But soon after, they lost wickets in heaps and were reduced to 76 for five in 11 overs. In the end, it was Afif Hossain Dhrubo’s 38 and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat’s unbeaten 20 that helped Bangladesh post a respectable score of 144 for eight on the board.

“It was very important to get a win. I have played all the editions of (T20 World Cup) but we haven’t won and that was in the back of my mind. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals and that wasn’t helping us,” Shakib was quoted as saying in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“We knew that 155 would have been a great total, we were 10 runs short. The fast bowlers bowled well. We understand the importance of fast bowling, we have found some very good bowlers,” he stated.

“Taskin has been a good bowler for us, he has experience and pace. Most of the fielders in our team are agile and quick. In the field, we can save 5-10 runs, and that could be the big difference,” Shakib added.

Bangladesh’s next Super 12 match is against South Africa on Thursday, October 27 at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.