Going so close and still falling short is painful, says Shakib Al Hasan
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Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan admits it was painful to come so close to winning a game before losing it to Afghanistan by just one run in the final T20I in Dehradun right at the end. Shakib also stated that he felt his team did not bat well throughout the series as they lost 3-0 to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan players found themselves in the form of their lives at the moment, as they went on to thrash Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series against Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh by a margin of 3-0 courtesy of last nightâs win. A strong performance by Afghanistanâs bowlers, especially Rashid Khan, who enabled them to beat their Asian counterparts in the recently concluded series.
Bangladesh skipper, Shakib Al Hasan, revealed that it was rather painful for himself and his team to come so close to a win just to lose the match in the end by a run, and subsequently the series as well.
âI have never batted or bowled in those situations so it is hard for me to answer. But yes I think it is a mental blockage that we havenât been able to overcome till now. It would have been good if we could have won the match but going so close and yet falling short is painful,â Al Hasan said in a post-match interview.
Bangladesh failed to cross the 150-run mark in the all the three matches with Afghanistan even going on to beat them in the first match with a huge margin of 45 runs. Shakib was highly critical of his sideâs batting performance, as he opined that the batsmen should have made the most of their chances.
âOur performance in the series was not up to the mark. We were found wanting in all the three aspects of the game. In all the three games we did not bat to our potential. We also could have bowled better in the first two matches. The body language and fielding need improvement as it was missing on occasions,â the 31-
The all-rounder further heaped praise on Afghanistanâs bowling department, especially the spinners, who according to him were the difference between the two teams when it mattered most
 âI think all the three spinners have bowled really well. They had a bowler who can start well, another who bowled really well in the middle overs and a great spinner who can bowl at the death overs.
âBut no matter how big a bowler, we expect to get 9 runs in the last over with two set batsmen at the crease. It doesnât mean that we have lost the match only in the last over, there are quite a few other factors to it. There are several small failures which have contributed to the big loss,â Shakib said.
