'India defeat will make us tougher'
It was a press briefing meant for Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's thoughts on the next game against New Zealand but it was invariably dominated by a discussion centering that heart-breaking one-run defeat against India in Bangalore.
"We have lost many games but we have not lost a game like that [against India]. We understand how painful that defeat was for everybody in our country. We will try not to make the same mistakes again and do something better in tomorrow's [Sunday's] game against New Zealand. Obviously we will try to play our best cricket and if possible win it," was how Mashrafe responded to the first question at the Eden Gardens yesterday.
Head-to-Head in WT20 Bangladesh Played New Zealand IN ALL T20Is 0 3 3 Last meeting |
"I don't have any explanation [behind the defeat to India] and I'm sure nobody can explain that in our team. If you lose by one run you can easily find many faults for that in fielding or in batting. We have never been in such a situation on the big stage; this was something new for us. But I will not say it's because of a lack of experience. We have quite a good number of players with us who have played the last World Cup. The most important thing is that we learn from this so that we can win even tougher games," the Bangladesh captain continued as questions focusing on the Bangalore game continued to be thronged.
Asked when he was going to retire from T20s, he responded briefly.
"I will think over it once I return home," he said.
"Against Pakistan we lost badly, but in the last two games against Australia and India we played well. If we can take positives from the last two games I think we will be able to get a good result from tomorrow's [today's] game. They [New Zealand] are a good team and have adjusted to these conditions very well. But we have nothing to lose and if we think like that we can do something better," he said while explaining his team's chances against the Kiwis.
But the Bangladesh captain looked a bit uncomfortable when asked if they should be a little less emotional on the field as a team.
"Yes, you are right. But emotion is something which varies from person to person. Emotion does help sometimes and it's been working for us. I don't know how to answer exactly," said Mashrafe.
When asked how they were trying to get to terms with that emotional shockwave, Mashrafe said: "Very simple. It's true that everyone is in a state of shock. No one is blaming anybody and at the same time it is very difficult accept it. But as a player we should move forward from here. I have told everybody after the match that this is not the end. We might not come across that same situation again but we will have to be alert in the future. My clear message is that we have another international match in hand so let's focus on that."
He said that despite the three defeats the Tigers have performed very well in different Indian conditions.
"If you look at the past records I think we are heading to a good position. T20 is a kind of game where there are particular players who are vital in certain positions in a game. We were missing those players before but some new players coming into the team are now filling those voids. I believe we will be a completely different team before the next World Cup," said a confident Bangladesh captain.
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