"I am very disappointed, I didn't expect to lose to Zimbabwe" - Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud
Bangladesh men's team director Khaled Mahmud lambasted the national side for their T20I series loss to Zimbabwe. The former Test skipper labeled the defeat a 'disgrace' and felt Bangladesh ought to have won it.
Bangladesh went down by 17 runs in the first T20I and bounced back to level the series with a seven-wicket win in the second. The tourists held the upper hand for the most part in the third T20 before Ryan Burl's onslaught fashioned Zimbabwe's 10-run win.
Zimbabwe hold their nerve in the decider and take the series 2-1 against Bangladesh to clinch their first-ever T20I bilateral series at home 👏
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Mahmud said he never expected Bangladesh to lose the series, but had no excuses. The 51-year old observed that Bangladesh's batters didn't even try to keep up with the required rate of 10 or 12 and instead batted to save their spots.
Mahmud said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"I am very disappointed, I didn't expect to lose to Zimbabwe. We are a better team than them. I would call it a disgrace. I won't give any excuses. We should have won the T20I series. Losing was quite unusual.
"When we needed 10 or 12 runs an over, we were getting six or seven every over. Nobody even tried to hit a six. Everyone was playing for ones and twos. What was that? They batted like trying to protect their place, make enough runs so that they don't lose their place."
It's worth noting that Bangladesh reduced Zimbabwe to 67-6 at one stage before Burl slammed 34 runs in an over off Nasum Ahmed. His 28-ball 54, consisting of two fours and six sixes, carried the hosts to 156.
"If you can't pull a short ball for six, that's going to be a problem" - Khaled Mahmud
Mahmud also cited Zimbabwean batters' example and singled out Afif Hossain and Nazmul Hossain Shanto for their lack of intent.
He said:
"When you are chasing 157, you can't win a game by batting at 90 or 110 strike-rate. Someone had to go after the bowling. Look at their (Burl and Jongwe) strike-rate. They changed the complexion of the game. You can't expect Litton Das to score every day.
"Whether it was Afif or Shanto, I didn't see anyone batting aggressively. If you can't pull a short ball for six, that's going to be a problem."
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Not an over we usually see! Truly unbelievable batting from @ryanburl3!
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It proved to be Zimbabwe's first T20I series victory over Bangladesh. The three-match ODI series between the two sides begins on Friday (August 5) in Harare.