Phil Simmons, the head coach of Bangladesh, thought that the game’s outcome was determined by their failure to use their in-form skipper, Litton Kumar Das, in their crucial match against Pakistan.
Bangladesh lost by 11 runs after the bowlers gave them hope of making it to the intercontinental tournament final, and they fell apart when chasing 136.
After suffering an injury during practice before their match against India, Litton was unable to play against both India and Pakistan. However, he earned two fifties in his last five T20I innings, totaling 273 runs.
“Losing the captain in such good form is a big thing for us. When someone of his class is suddenly unavailable, the situation gets tough,” said Simmons after being eliminated from the tournament.
Simmons described their hitters’ poor shot selection as a result of the bad middle-field decisions they made against Pakistan. However, the coach praised his team for maintaining composure when they pursued 169 against Sri Lanka in their first Super Four match.
“We didn’t have to chase it in any [particular number of] overs. We just had to win the game,” said Simmons. “It was just bad decisions. All of the teams have that at some point. It was us today. We didn’t make the best shot selections.
“We just chased 160 [169 vs Sri Lanka] two games ago. We are not a team that can lose Tanzid [Hasan] and captain [Litton] in one game and just fill [the void] like that. We are getting to that stage, we are not there yet there,” he said.
Simmons justified their choice to put Mahedi Hasan, a lower order batsman, at No. 4 because he believed the bowling all-rounder could mount a counterattack against the Pakistani pacers.
“You look at it as someone batting at No 4. I look at it as someone taking on the pacers in the PowerPlay. He (Mahedi) could have taken on the pacers more, than if he went in the lower order against the spinners. I had Jaker [Ali] and Shamim [Hossain] down there, who could take on the spinners,” said the head coach.
After their lower order saved them from a critical situation, Simmons felt that Pakistan gained some confidence after Bangladesh made three catches on the field.
Nurul Hasan and Mahedi Hasan dropped Shaheen Shah Afridi twice when they were struggling at 51 for 5, despite the fact that he struck two sixes in a 19 off 13 balls. Before he had even opened his account, Parvez Hossain Emon dropped Mohammad Nawaz, who later made 25 off 15 balls with two sixes and a four.
However, Simmons was unwilling to utilize the “ring of fire” floodlights as a justification for losing catches. “When we dropped Shaheen and Nawaz, that’s where the game changed,” he explained. “Before that, we were in control,” Simmons stated.
“Some of the catches maybe [had something to do with the lights] but I don’t think the ones we dropped had anything to do with the lights,” he stated.
Simmons stated that they are working to improve their strike-rate compared to other nations, but he also mentioned that the hitters must bat for longer stretches of time.
“The [strike-rate] gap will reduce the more we play at the international level, the guys will know what to do at this level,” said Simmons. “I agree that our strike-rate isn’t up there, but we are up there in six-hitting. I don’t think it is about our ability to score quickly. We have to bat for longer and put on partnerships,” he said.
Simmons concluded by highlighting certain advantages the team may learn from and improve upon from the tournament. Before losing back-to-back games to India and Pakistan, Bangladesh had won consecutive games against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Simmons maintained that the bowling unit and opener Saif Hasan played effectively even if they were unable to advance to the final. “He [Saif] is unquestionably this [campaign’s] greatest asset. The other is the performance of our bowlers during the competition. “Every game, they were right on,” he said.
