Mahmudullah takes the fall
Image : BCCI
||CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh Twenty20 skipper Mahmudullah said that seniors failed to deliver against India in the crucial do-or-die match at Nagpur that resisted them from earning their maiden T20-series against host.
India crawled back from behind to win the series by 2-1 margin that can be termed another heart break for the visitors as they came very near to make history at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium as they failed to keep their nerves despite making the platform- needing 50 runs from 70 balls with eight before getting derailed due to stupidity.
Mahmudullah said that losing wickets at crucial junctures was the reason behind their downfall against India in the series decider that deprived them from earning their maiden T20 series win against India as he felt the wicket was good to bat on and chase down the total put up by their opponent on the board.
‘’The reason behind this defeat i think probably, we had a chance but when we needed 49 off 30 balls. But at the end we lost few wickets. We could have wrap it with. That’s what cost the match for us,’’ said Mahmudullah.
‘’T20 cricket is such a format, if you lose momentum then it’s very hard to get the momentum back. So as i have mentioned, we were very close in this game but as we lost 3-4 wickets in 6 or 7 balls. So i think that’s the crucial part of that game. I think we need to think about those things so we don’t need to think about those sorts of things again and again,’’ he said adding that they promoted Mohammad Mithun ahead of Mushfiqur Rahim to stabilize the innings and regretted that despite the former did the job along with the Mohammad Mithun they failed to compliment enough to cross the hurdle.
‘’I think we wanted to stabilize the innings. Because we already lost two wickets. So we thought that, if Mithun goes in and takes a bit of time and makes a good partnership which they did. I think the partnership between Naim and Mithun was incredible. I think they had (made) the partnership of 97 from 50 odd balls. So the partnership was there and it’s good to see. Specially young Naim batted so well in this series. But once again it all came out to that part where we lost a few wickets in a cluster,’’ he said adding that he is ready to take the blame on behalf of the seniors.
‘’Yeah, if you say about today’s game, yes we [seniors] failed. That I agree because we had opportunity but we couldn’t make it,’’ he said.
Mahmudullah praised the innings of Mohammad Naim and added that he is taking few positives from the series that includes the return of pace bowler Al Amin Hossain and leg spinner Aminul Islam.
‘’His [Naim] innings was beautiful to watch. I am feeling bad that, we could not finish it, middle order failed. That’s why i have more regret because he batted so well,’’ said Mahmudullah.
‘’So at least for him, if we could finish well, he could have more credit.
‘’Naim scored around 30 every day but today he scored 80. He performed consistently. It’s very hard to be consistent in T20 format. You can be consistent in Test and one-day matches but it’s really hard (in T20). And I would like to say that, in T20 cricket,’’ he said.
‘’Al Amin was brilliant. I think one of the best T20 bowlers from our country. I personally feel that. If you see his career statistics, in international or domestic or in BPL, he is always a consistent performer. So i was confident that he could do well,’’ he said.
‘’[Apart from that] Biolob’s [ Aminul] performance, bowling unit performance was very good, Mushy’s innings was special[ in the opener] These were the positive signs,’’ he said.
