'We are going nowhere'
Stand-in Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad warned that if they keep on playing like this they are going nowhere, especially in the shortest version of cricket.
"I think we are paying the price of the mistakes we are committing in every game. We will have to come out of this, I don't think we have any other option. If we keep on playing like this we will get the same result," Mahmudullah told reporters after his side's 75-run defeat in the second and final T20I at the Sylhet International Stadium yesterday.
When asked which department disappointed him the most, he blamed both bowling and batting.
"We will have to have specific plans and we will have to back it up with our performance in the middle which we are not doing at the moment," said Mahmudullah, adding that in a T20 game bowler must think of taking wickets and the batsmen should be courageous to take some risks.
"We have started like bowling in the death overs from probably 12th or 13th over. On this kind of wicket you need early wickets. Otherwise it is very tough to get back into the game. You have to go for runs at the expense of wickets and if you can do that you have a chance to return to the game," he said while referring to Sri Lanka's bowling in the Powerplay overs.
"In the batting we have all seen that we failed to build partnerships. If you want to chase 200-plus you need to score more than 60 in the first Powerplay which we did in the last game. Unfortunately we could not do that today. There was scoreboard pressure. It's really disappointing for me," said Mahmudullah who fought a lone battle with 41.
However, he put more focus on striking the right balance in the T20 format with right kind of players.
"What we are probably trying to do is to strike the right combination, especially in T20 cricket. We are still working to find out the right combination and I hope we will be able to figure out it soon. Otherwise I'm afraid we will be in big trouble especially in T20 cricket," the captain warned.
He said the faults were more about execution than planning.
"You will have to have your own plan, you will have to be courageous. You will have to take risks. If you concede 12-13 runs and you are not trying something different then you are not going anywhere. In a T20 match the first six overs are very important. Our top-order batsmen will have to go hard even if there is a chance of losing wickets," Mahmudullah observed, adding: "Otherwise you simply can't survive in a T20 game."
"It should be a collective decision from all the players about how to go about in T20 cricket. We will have to do some soul-searching and find out the faults and be honest in our confessions. We will then have to work out a plan so that the mistakes are minimised. If we can do that we can do better than we are doing now."
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