We had to capitalise when we had the game under control, says Mashrafe Mortaza

09/29/2018

After the close game against India in the Asia Cup final, Mashrafe Mortaza has mentioned that his team had to capitalise when they had the game under their control. The Bangladeshis’ efforts to stop India from retaining the Asia Cup went in vain as they ended up losing the final by three wickets.

Despite ending up on the losing side, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza was proud of his side’s performance against India in the Asia Cup Finals on Friday. Bangladesh was off to a great start and they had a century-stand for the opening wicket. The Indian bowlers did well to pull things back after the 20th over which resulted in Bangladesh ending up with an average score which later proved to be competitive.

"Our boys should feel proud. I think we have to learn so many things. Every time we play a tournament like this, we are struggling somewhere or the other. Today we made a good start but couldn't go through. We had it under control, but we couldn't capitalise," Mortaza said after the game, TOI reported.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Tigers set Indians a target of 223 with opener Liton Das scoring 121. In the second innings opening bowlers Rubel Hussain and Nazmul Islam started well and India was struggling at the start of the innings at 83 for 3 within 17 overs. The Bangladeshi spinners could not capitalise on that start.

Speaking about the bowling performance, the Bangladeshi skipper, "(But) You would always back the spinners when you see the ball turning in the ﬁrst innings. Mehidy has bowled well throughout the tournament. Mahmudullah was good in the last game. If our oﬀ-spinners bowled well, the scenario would have been so diﬀerent”.

"We needed to get 10 overs from them, but we were struggling to do that. Apu (Nazmul Islam) could have bowled better. But you cannot blame the bowlers when the target is 223. I think all of you thought in the half-time that we won't be winning."

Speaking on the non-availability of in-form players Shakib and Tamim Iqbal, he said, "In the last few matches, we lost early wickets but managed to score 240-250. I think the bowlers did a good job in the tournament. We are proud but we have to move forward. Not having Shakib (Al Hasan) and Tamim (Iqbal) was a big blow, but I think boys have done a really good job."

We had to capitalise when we had the game under control, says Mashrafe Mortaza

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