I don't have an explanation for this defeat, says Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has conceded that he has no words to explain his side’s loss from a position of great advantage after having bowling out India cheaply and described the result as “shameful.”
"I don't have an explanation for this defeat," Mushfiqur said. "All I can say is that we had a very good opportunity. There cannot be anything more shameful, so I apologise to the nation on behalf of the team.
"A lot of problems can be identified after such a defeat. Maybe we are trying hard, but I don't know what is exactly going wrong. We will discuss our problems tomorrow, but I think if this were our second team, they would have played better cricket. It is very disappointing," said Rahim.
It has to be remembered that the wicket-keeper batsmen made a statement that his side will be looking forward to be sending a message to the BCCI for sending a second-string side by defeating India, before the start of the series. Bangladesh, after losing the first ODI of the Sahara Cup, bounced back to bowl out India for 105 on a pitch that aided fast bowling. But Indian bowlers lead by Stuart Binny responded magnificently and Bangladesh batsmen crumbled in the run chase, and were eventually bowled out for 58. The last 8 Bangladesh wickets produced just 14 runs, failing to grind it out in the middle.
"There can be a lot of questions. We were set in the crease but we couldn't finish the game. We had to try as hard as we usually do but our batsmen didn't show the mental toughness required in the middle. When they bowled two or three good overs, we played the wrong shots, which caused the defeat.
"Taskin and Mashrafe bhai bowled very well. Al-Amin tried very hard. Mithun and I were batting quite well too, but I don't know what happened all of a sudden. Nothing can be worse than this and I didn't expect such poor cricket," admitted the 25-year-old.
On Tamim Iqbal, who is not in the best of touches: "Maybe it was his plan to play attacking, but he should have judged the wicket. A 30 or 40 from him would have made a difference but as I said, the approach may be good but the application is not there. It has been long and things haven't happened for us. So maybe now the management might think of a change, which could bring about a better balanced team."
Tamim Iqbal after scoring a boundary first ball of a small chase threw his wicket away to Mohit Sharma attempting another.
Mushfiqur was relieved after the press meet which was evident in his "that's all" after answering the last few questions.