Bangladesh’s assistant coach Nick Pothas stated on Wednesday that their batting unit made poor decisions against Pakistan in their Asia Cup Super Four opener at the Gaddafi Stadium.
In 38.4 overs, Pakistan’s bowling unit bowled out Bangladesh for 193 runs, resulting in a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim scored respective fifties and added 100 runs for the fifth wicket, but that was not enough; if they had been able to extend their stay at the crease instead of being too risky, they would have been able to post a competitive total.
Despite a few batsmen getting starts – Mohammad Naim (20) and Litton Das (16), Shamim Hossain (16), and Afif Hossain (12) – Bangladesh batters never managed to assert authority over the opposition’s bowlers, with the late-order batters failing to seize the opportunity despite having overs remaining.
“From a batting perspective, today was all about making decisions. Pothas told reporters after the game in Lahore, “We probably didn’t make the right decisions at the right time for these conditions, but that’s always going to be a challenge for a team in transition.”
“Rather than looking too far ahead, it’s just about some consistency. We probably didn’t bat very well in Kandy, and then we played really well against Afghanistan, and probably didn’t peak tonight. We are trying to find the right combination for us at the moment, and we are a team that is in transition. So yeah, some consistency at the moment, I think that would be the goal,” he said.
“When you win the toss and bat first, you obviously want to put a score on the board, but you are also talking about an elite bowling attack. I think where we made it a little bit easier for the attack is the option that we took against that seam attack in the heat. Ideally, we would like to bat a lot deeper than that and put a score on the board, and that is the nature of cricket when playing against top seam attacks. Yes, we need improvement in that area, but if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it,” he said, adding that their aggressive batting approach despite losing early wickets is a by-product of modern-day cricket.
“I don’t think it’s anything new (playing aggressively in the powerplay despite losing early wickets), and all the teams are doing that. That is the impact of T20 cricket,” he said.
“I think any side, and if you look at all the teams in the Asia Cup, there will be no difference in the World Cup, that all batters and bowlers are looking for an advantage, and all the teams will come hard in the first power play. So, it is not something that we do; I think it is just the way the world of cricket runs at the moment,” he added.
On September 9, Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in Colombo.
