After a T20 World Cup campaign that will be remembered as one of Bangladesh cricket’s catastrophes, Tigers skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said he is not thinking of stepping down as the country’s T20 captain.
Bangladesh endured defeat in all five of its Super 12s fixtures, after scraping through qualification in round 1 finishing second in a group with Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea.
The Tigers’ dismal showing in all departments of the game left many observers surprised. Even Mahmudullah said he has no idea about what made them play like this.
“It’s tough to say something after these sorts of defeats. We have to work on many things,” Mahmudullah said after Bangladesh’s eight-wicket defeat to Australia on Thursday in a game that lasted just 21.2 overs. “The wickets we often play on are not ideal for batting. So we have to work more on our batting.”
What he possibly meant was not ideal for learning batting, particularly batting against all kinds of bowling. Bangladesh continues to be found out against genuine pace and bounce for example, and top-order collapses were a routine occurrence during the T20 World Cup campaign.
Mahmudullah’s captaincy also came under scrutiny. According to many, he failed to lead the team from the front. But Mahmudullah said he tried his best to keep the team together and play their best cricket.
“It’s (stepping down as captain) not in my hands. Maybe there was some deficit in my captaincy. But I tried my best to lead the team, and bring out the best of the boys. Now up to the board. They will decide about it,” Mahmudullah added.
Mahmudullah scored 169 runs in eight matches with a fifty. He was the second-highest runs scorer for Bangladesh in the campaign after opener Mohammad Naim, who posted 174 in seven matches.
Source: United News of Bangladesh