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Bangladesh have secured their berth in Super 12 of T20 World Cup 2021 after registering a huge 84-run win over Papua New Guinea on Thursday. Their skipper Mahmudullah led from the front as he smashed a brilliant half-century in the first innings, setting up a perfect platform for a convincing victory for the Tigers. However, their journey to the main round of mega event wasn't as straight forward as it looks right now!
The side kicked off their campaign with a shocking 6-run defeat at the hands of Scotland. While chasing a target of 141 runs, Bangladesh batsmen could not get going as they fell short of the target. Their senior trio of Shakib Al Hasan (20 off 28), Mushfiqur Rahim (38 off 36) and Mahmudullah (23 off 22) came under a lot of criticism for their strike-rate.
"A team can lose but the approach should be right. The approach and the attitude were not right. (The) way our batsmen batted, that included Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, we lost the match there. We will not be able to chase in this format if we display such batting. Every batsman of this team knows about this. I think their approach and strategy were not right at all,” BCB president Nazmul Hasan was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Mahmudullah hits back at Nazmul Hasan after win over PNG
As Bangladesh were on the brink of elimination from the tournament, they brought their top game to register crucial wins over Oman and PNG to secure their berth in the next round. However, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah did not miss the opportunity to hit back at the critics for going after the players for one bad performance.
"Everyone has social media on their phone. We expect criticism when it is warranted, but if that is belittling, we feel bad. There were many questions, including about the three senior players' strike rate. We tried hard, but we didn't get the result," Mahmudullah said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
"Everyone makes sacrifices. We play with injuries. Some of us take painkillers every day. Many don't know about these things, so it is not right to talk about our commitment. I hope we can be more settled now. Within the team, there is positive energy, and for that, I think the whole team. I hope things will get better," Mahmudullah added.
We are human beings and we have feelings: Mahmudullah
The Bangladesh captain went on to say that they are human beings and they also make mistakes. He said, "When we play, the whole country plays together. We keep it in our minds. I don't think anyone has more feelings for it than us. We played bad and we knew that we would receive criticism. But it wasn't right to strip us completely. We all were hurt by it."
Mahmudullah added that they have families and when their parents and children sit in front of the TV, they feel sad about it. While the whole nation would certainly be proud of the efforts of the team in last two matches, there will certainly be questions asked to BCB president for putting the players under so much pressure with his comments.