We were 20-30 short: Najmul

The group stage of the T20 World Cup has seen several low-scoring matches. On the drop-in pitches in New York, it was challenging to score runs while staying on the wicket. However, the matches in the West Indies have shown a different picture. Here, the ball is coming onto the bat nicely, leading to high scores. Yet, Bangladeshi batters have struggled to capitalize on these conditions.

In today’s match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Bangladesh scored 140 runs batting first against Australia. In response, Australia comfortably reached 100 runs in just 11.2 overs. The big question is why Bangladeshi batters are failing to score runs where other teams' batters are managing to play their shots effectively.

At the post-match press conference, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto expressed his frustration over not being able to score more runs on such a good pitch. He said, "The conditions have varied greatly. In the last match, both spin and seam were effective. Today's wicket was completely flat, very good for batting. We didn't bat well, and that made the difference. We needed to score 160-170 runs."

Shanto added, "When we were batting, it seemed like 160-170 would be a good score. The wicket was slow at the beginning. Later, it seemed easier when they were batting. The ball was coming nicely onto the bat because it was getting wet. They played comfortably against our pace bowlers."

In the match against Australia, Liton Das scored 16 runs off 25 balls. This slow batting pace hindered Bangladesh's chance of putting up a big total. When asked if Liton’s slow batting was part of the plan, Shanto responded,

"The plan was to play cautiously at the start. In the previous matches, we were not getting good starts. The plan was to preserve wickets in the first 6 overs. We managed to follow our plan, but it could have been better. I was happy with the plan. If I had not gotten out and could have batted until the 17-18th over, we might have reached closer to 160-170."