IND vs BAN | Our batsmen should've taken more responsibility, admits Mahmudullah
After a brilliant start in the first T20I, Bangladesh were restricted to only 153 and Bangla skipper Mahmudullah has blamed the middle order for missing out on a golden opportunity. Despite being 1-0 ahead, the visitors failed to ride the momentum and were thrashed by 8 wickets in the second T20I.
Bangladesh was off to a great start in Rajkot as they piled up 103 at the end of 13 overs but lost their way thereafter. They ended up with 153 off their quota of 20 overs as a dominant Indian batting lineup chased it down with 26 balls left.Â
The spin duo of veteran Yuzvendra Chahal and young Washington Sundar made the Bangladeshi batsman toil as they starved for runs towards the end of their innings. Chahal ended up with figures of 2 for 28 while Sundar completed his quota with figures of 1 for 25. Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad was disappointed with his batsmen who failed to capitalise on a bright start.
âI donât think we need to change much but there are few areas in the game, especially when we are batting, which we need to rectify. We have missed the momentum, we could have got 170. We were 102-103 after 12 overs, so we should have got 170-180,â he told Sportstar.
âLosing a few wickets in the middle overs cost us and these are the areas we need to look on. The openers gave us a very good start and that was a 180-plus wicket. The wicket was very good to bat on.
âIt was the momentum of the game that we needed to understand. We should have understood the threats we faced at that particular time, but we didnât recognise those things and fell short of those runs,â the Bangladesh skipper admitted.
At one point, the projected score of Bangladesh stood at 208 but they fell almost 50 runs short of it. On the Rajkot pitch which offered excellent carry and bounce, 159 was a score well below par and Mahmudullah stated it as a failure of his batsman as he urged them to take some responsibility while at the crease.
âI think if you have more than 40 dot balls in a T20, you have less chance of winning the match. We played 38 dot balls there. Maybe thatâs okay, but there will definitely be opportunities to improve,â he said.
âBut our batsmen had to take more responsibility. The goal was to get a good score but we couldnât do that. It is the failure of our batsmen.â
Although 159 was a below-par total on the Rajkot pitch, the Rohit Sharma show made it a walk in the park for India. The Indian skipper went berserk on the Bangladesh bowling line as he scored a brilliant 85 off 43 balls. The blistering innings, which was studded with six sixes and six boundaries, levelled the series for the home side. Rohitâs Bangladeshi counterpart Mahmudullah admitted that it is tough to stop him when he is at his flamboyant best.
âIf Rohit (Sharma) is having a good time, I think it is really hard to stop him. When he is batting brilliantly and if he is in a good mood, you never know what he is up to. But if we could have got 175-plus, we could have given ourselves a bit of a chance to defend,â said Mahmudullah.
âThe wicket was good to bat on and the new ball was coming nicely on to the bat. If you get a good start early on, especially batsmen like Rohit and Shikhar (Dhawan), it is hard to stop them on that wicket.â