Costly bowling, particularly Mustafizur Rahman's two overs that yielded 41 runs, proved decisive. However, Bangladesh captain Litton Das refused to single out the experienced pacer after the match.
Asked about Mustafizur's bowling, Litton said, “Look, he has been the best bowler in our team for many years. In cricket, you can never go the same way all the time; there will be ups and downs. I think today just wasn't a very suitable day for him.”
Explaining where Bangladesh lost control of the match, Litton pointed to their bowling in the middle overs.
“I think if we could have bowled a little better in the middle overs and conceded fewer of those boundaries, we would have had a better chance,” he said.
The Bangladesh captain also highlighted the difficult wicket and the team's lack of match preparation after spending a long period away from practice.
“We have been sitting in our rooms for a long time, plus we lost the toss. So we didn't really have any option. The wicket was also a little difficult to deal with,” Litton said.
After Bangladesh lost three quick wickets at the start of their innings, Litton praised Towhid Hridoy for helping the team recover.
“Credit goes to Hridoy for bringing our team back from that position. The partnership between Mosaddek and Hridoy was very good,” he said.
Asked whether 111 was a defendable total, Litton replied, “I think it was enough, but if we had bowled a little better, the outcome could have been different.”
The captain was also asked whether Bangladesh could have opted for a spinner instead of Mustafizur. Litton defended his decision to use the experienced pacer.
“If Mustafiz had taken three wickets today, you wouldn't have asked this question,” he said. “I thought Mustafiz was the best option, so I went with him.”
Litton admitted that Bangladesh were disappointed after failing to achieve their goal of winning the gold medal at the Asian Games.
“Obviously, because when we were leaving the country, we said that we wanted to play in the final. So we couldn't get there,” he said.
Bangladesh last won Asian Games gold in men's cricket in 2010, and Litton acknowledged that failing to reclaim the title was not ideal.
“No, it is never ideal. We definitely have to get the gold. We tried to do that, but we will keep trying. In the future, another team will come and they will try as well,” he said.
