"They should have gone for the chase, even if it meant getting bowled out for 70 or 80" - Tamim on Bangladesh giving up on T20 WC semis berthÂ
Veteran Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal feels that Najmul Hossain Shanto and company should have gone all out in their run-chase attempt against Afghanistan in the final Super 8 stage game of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Bangladesh were alive in the race for the semi-finals, with the sole condition being that they had to chase down the 116-run target in 12.1 overs or less.
The subcontinent side made a spirited start to the run chase as Litton Das showed intent straightaway. However, their attempt deflated as Afghanistan responded with wickets. Bangladesh were arguably still in the hunt as Litton Das looked in excellent touch and the side were placed at 73/5 after nine overs.
Following Towhid Hridoy's dismissal, Bangladesh chose to remove their foot off the pedal. By the time the 12.1 over cut-off arrived, they only had 82 runs on the board at the loss of seven wickets.
"Bangladesh will be very disappointed. I think Bangladesh should have gone for the chase, even if it meant getting bowled out for 70 or 80. They anyways went onto lose the match, but they had the opportunity to do something very special and these kind of opportunities does not come around very often, especially after not winning anything in the Super 8," Tamim Iqbal said on ESPNCricinfo.
In patches, Bangladesh looked like they were going for the chase, but then wickets fell and there was less intent in the batting in few of the overs. Atleast if they had tried to chase it down and lost by 30-40 runs, people would have understood that there was an opportunity and we tried and we failed, but that is fine. Neither we won the game, and neither did we try to chase it down," Tamim added.
Bangladesh ended up failing to secure the run chase as well. They fell short by eight runs to finish the Super 8 stage without a single win under their belt.
"First six overs, the plan was to go for the qualification" - Bangladesh skipper Najmul Shanto
Bangladesh needed a response from their top order if they had to chase down the target in quick time and overcome the net run rate. However, only Litton Das showed some fight as the likes of Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, and skipper Najmul Shanto departed without reaching double figures.
"As a batting group we made a lot of poor mistakes and that cost us. First six overs, the plan was to go for the qualification. If we lose early wickets, bat normally," Najmul said during the post-match presentation.
Afghanistan proceeded to qualify for the semi-finals with the win over Bangladesh. The Rashid Khan-led side joins India, South Africa, and England in the 2024 T20 World Cup knockouts.