Bangladesh need to move on without worrying too much about the defeat against Hong Kong, all-rounder Sakib al Hasan said on Sunday as the Tigers returned to training ahead of their Super-10 campaign in the ICC World Twenty20. The Tigers were humiliated by minnows Hong Kong in their last match of the first round, leaving a sour taste in their mouths before the Super-10s, which they reached only due to their superior run-rate over Nepal.
‘Our aim was to reach the Super 10s,’ Sakib told reporters at Fatullah after Bangladesh’s training session. ‘It’s the same if we had reached there by winning just one game or more. Here the points of first round will not be counted.
‘So better we don’t talk about it. I would expect no unpleasant question,’ said Sakib.
Bangladesh began the tournament on a high note, beating Afghanistan by nine wickets before handing Nepal a thrashing in their second match.
But when everybody expected the Tigers to blow away the already-eliminated team from Hong Kong, they faltered agonisingly.
Put in to bat first, Bangladesh were all out for 108 runs as five batsmen suffered ducks against a side that had lost their previous two games.
If Hong Kong had knocked off the total in 13.2 overs, Bangladesh would have been eliminated from the first round.
Hong Kong, who fielded nine Pakistani-origin players in their line-up, did not give it a try as they had no stake left in the tournament.
A few early wickets from Sakib, who shared the new ball with Al-Amin Hossain and bowled four overs on the trot, left Hong Kong chasing just one goal, and that was to get the win. They achieved their target despite a nervous
last few overs, becoming the latest ICC Associate to make Bangladesh their prey.
‘We did not bat that well. After 10 overs we had 86 runs for three wickets. From there we should have scored 160 runs, or at least 140. It does not look good when a team loses 6 or 7 wickets for 26 runs,’ said Sakib.
‘Still, everybody worked hard. In the first two matches everyone did not get an opportunity to bat. They got it in the last match, which is one positive thing.
‘Unfortunately we could not use the opportunity. Now our aim will be improving in this area,’ said Sakib.
The all-rounder said he expects a tougher challenge in the Super 10s, where Bangladesh will be pitted against the West Indies, Australia, India and Pakistan in group B.
‘I think it will be highly competitive,’ said Sakib.
‘We have four world champions in our group. It’s challenging for us to play against so many top teams at the same time.
‘All teams have better option in pace and spin department than us. So we have to be on top of our game and at the same time expect the opponents to have a below-par game. Only then we can win.’
‘Just one or two players can win the match for others. We have very few players with this calibre. So we have to give a collective effort,’ said Sakib.
Sakib repeated his call for the fans not to expect too much.
‘Before the tournament I said not to expect too much from us. I would say the same thing again. Instead of burdening us with so many expectations, rather enjoy the game and support us,’ said Sakib.
Bangladesh will open their campaign against the West Indies on March 25.
-With New Age input
