‘Hopeful of better wickets in future’

The result was familiar and so was the post-match press conference as a sorry looking Taskin Ahmed walked in with a tense face to address the media after the Tigers crashed to their fourth consecutive defeat in the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

There was once again a plethora of ifs and buts from the losing party and Taskin tried his best to remain calm and answer the barrage of questions that were being flung his way.

Regret of not putting enough runs on the board from the batters was a factor after Bangladesh were bundled out for just 84 runs -- their sixth-lowest total in T20Is -- before South Africa got home with six wickets to spare.

"It could have been a different story if we made even 120 or 125. I think today's [Tuesday's] wicket was different. The ball was seaming. There was off-the-pitch movement in both innings. They took nearly 14 overs to score 85 runs so it suggests the pitch was good for seamers," Taskin told the media.

Despite posting a small total, Bangladesh did manage to show some fight and had reduced the Proteas to 33 for three in the Powerplay. Taskin was probably the only positive for the Bangladesh team yesterday, picking up two wickets and exploiting the seam-friendly Abu Dhabi track.

"We started well but a score like 84 is never good enough against this batting line-up. It is the same for most teams, so we have to bat better. We encountered sporting wickets in the World Cup, much different from Mirpur. We are hopeful of better wickets in the future. It will improve our bowling and batting. Regardless of the result, it will help us ahead of big tournaments." he said.

With one game left in the Super 12 stage against Australia on November 4, Taskin pleaded for blessings from the media and fans so that the Tigers could take something and end the disastrous campaign on a positive note.

With the morale in freefall following a string of defeats, Taskin was even asked whether it was tougher to play in the middle or face the media.

"When you don't perform well as a team, everything becomes difficult as a player. It is obvious that when you don't play well, there will be a lot of talk. Players are under pressure. We didn't play well overall, but we are hoping things will improve in the future," said a dejected Taskin, who appeared to breathe a sigh of relief as he walked out of the press conference area.