'Performance cost us series'

A series that was meant to test and try out Bangladesh's backup players ended up highlighting a series of concerns for the Tigers.

The most obvious of those issues remains the hosts' batting. The team might have vastly developed its chasing approach in one-day internationals, but there remains a lot to learn in the shortest format of the game.

The series also reflected a major concern surrounding Bangladesh's bowling. A glance at Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan's bowling records in this series will worry the team management. Shakib's economy rate in this series was 8.62, his worst when it comes to T20I series including at least two matches.

Mashrafe recorded a bowling average of 69.5, his worst in a bilateral series.

Following the match yesterday, Mashrafe admitted that there were a number of concerns that the team would need to address before the Asia Cup begins in late February.

"I think the good thing is that we still have one more month before the Asia Cup and we need to overcome the challenges that lie ahead of us during this period," said Mashrafe.

Bangladesh had tumbled to 17 for 4 in 2.4 overs during their chase yesterday and Mashrafe stated that a majority of the damage had taken place within that period.

"When you lose three wickets in the first three overs, chasing 180 becomes difficult. We went on the back-foot after losing those wickets," admitted Mashrafe.

"I think the wicket was really good. On wickets like this you just need to spend some time. You can't play shots right from the start. I think everyone tried to hit early.

"But still I thought [Mahmudullah] Riyad played well. He gave us a chance. If we had a batsman along with the tail towards the end, then maybe we could have reached the target," added Mashrafe.

After winning the first two matches, Bangladesh made five changes in the third game and ended up losing that match. The captain admitted that the 'momentum' factor could have affected the players.

"Momentum is something that is very important; especially in T20 cricket. After the first two matches we were really relaxed. After the third match, they were probably more relaxed. But before stating an excuse, let me just say that we lost the game due to the way we performed on the field," concluded Mashrafe.