Published on 12:00 AM, March 09, 2018

All aggression, no planning

This shot from Tamim Iqbal typified Bangladesh's approach -- losing shape and composure while going for big shots -- as they posted a below-par 139 for eight in their T20I tri-nation match against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo last night. Photo: AFP

The mantra of positive intent and attacking cricket went to the heads of Bangladesh's batsmen to such an extent that there was no kind of planning on view after India captain Rohit Sharma asked the Tigers to bat on a relatively batting-friendly pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday.

The Bangladesh batsmen looked to attack right from the start but the approach was wayward as they missed out on loose deliveries while trying to score runs when there some sort of resistance was called for.

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton Das and Sabbir Rahman all paid the price for an over-excited approach as they chanced their arms almost blindly.

Soumya, who was unable to get on top of the delivery and tried to play away from his body, survived when his big heave off pacer Jaydev Unadkat took the top edge in the first over and landed between three fielders near the third man region.

The left-hander however fell for 14 playing the ball too early, mostly because of his premeditated shot selection.

The tendency to go after every delivery was also witnessed from the most experienced batsman of the team as Tamim, despite surviving twice, was unable to put a price tag on his wicket and departed after scoring 15 as Bangladesh immediately lost the momentum in the Powerplay, during which they scored 44 for two.

Mushfiqur tried to accelerate the run rate and smashed a powerful reverse sweep off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. The wicketkeeper-batsman, having struck a six over deep midwicket off pacer Vijay Shankar, went for another in the next ball but handed the bowler his maiden T20I wicket playing his second game.

None of the batsmen tried to play till the 20th over and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Liton, the only one to display some sort of stability, departed in the same manner going against the spin off Chahal and was caught at long off.

Mahmudullah also could not control his aggression when the innings required some sort of resistance and handed a catch down the throat of the only fielder placed at deep extra cover.

Sabbir's 26-ball 30 was also not a confident one; the attacking right-hander should have waited for another couple of overs before going for the late launch as the Tigers eventually added just 32 runs in the last five overs to post a sub-par total of 139 for eight.

The question remains whether the message was to go after every delivery regardless of situation, or whether the players, who were eager to play pressure free cricket, eventually took on extra pressure.

Another question would be whether the batters got any message from the dressing room or whether there was any plan B after the initial plan to attack failed? Evidence on the field suggested otherwise.