Things may have been different if we had conceded 10 runs less, laments Mahmudullah

After a record chase against Sri Lanka on Saturday, Bangladesh faltered against India in the fifth game of the Nidahas Trophy. After a good start with the ball where they kept the Indian batsmen under check, 71/1 after 10 overs, the bowlers leaked a lot of runs at the death as they allowed India to score a competitive total. Chasing 176, the Bangladesh batsmen faltered dramatically as they lost by 17 runs. 

Stand-in skipper Mahmudullah felt that the bowling performance could’ve been better and explained that the inability of his bowlers to apply pressure on the Indian batsmen despite having started well could’ve cost them the game. He felt that it would’ve benefitted the team had they restricted the Indians by 10 runs.  

“I think we started well with the ball but gave away too many runs in the last few overs. If we had conceded 10 runs fewer, it would have helped us,” Mahmudullah said speaking in the post-match press conference.

He also felt that had some top order batsmen hung around with Mushfiqur a little longer, things would’ve been different. The stand-in claimed that they could’ve chased the total of 176. 

“With the bat, Mushfiqur made 72 out of 160-odd (159). If another top-order batsman could have contributed around 25 runs, things may have been different for us. With the bat, Mushfiqur made 72 out of 160-odd (159). If another top-order batsman could have contributed around 25 runs, things may have been different for us,” the 32-year-old allrounder added. 

Mahmudullah also praised his counterpart Rohit Sharma for his innings of 89. He felt that the team should have followed the path that Rohit had laid out in the first innings. 

“Rohit initially took a bit of time to get settled. He paced his innings and took on particular bowlers. He batted really well. I think we were playing too fast in the powerplay,” Mahmudullah said.

The 32-year-old Bangladesh allrounder was all praise for Washington Sundar as well but added that had his batsmen applied better against him, it would’ve been a different game for them. 

“Washington Sundar showed his potential today. He bowled really well today. He varied his pace and bowled according to the batsman. He didn’t let the batsmen get away. If we could have applied better against him, it would have been a different game for us,” Mahmudullah said.

Bangladesh now face Sri Lanka in a virtual semi-final on Friday, March 16. However, they will be buoyed by the return of their talismanic all-rounder and captain Shakib Al Hasan.