Najmul Shanto has admitted that their collapse in the power play was the reason for the defeat in the first T20I on the Bangladesh tour of India 2024.
India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets with 49 balls remaining in the opening game of the three-match series. Bangladesh scored only 39 runs in the powerplay as they chose to bat first in the match.
Eventually, the visitors scored only 127 runs. Chasing the target, the hosts scored 71 runs in powerplay and completed their innings in 11.5 overs. Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy played a key role in restricting Bangladesh to low scores picking 3 wickets each.
Bangladesh has been struggling in Powerplay batting in the T20 format and also has issues with the opening combination.
Their opening stand lasted only a limited time, scoring only 5 runs. Speaking in the post-match conference, Najmul said, “Powerplay is definitely a worry. The approach we talked about (before the game) will be successful if we make a good start with the bat. ”
“We have to keep the wickets in the first six overs, and score runs in those. Otherwise, those coming in next, become too challenging for them. We have struggled in the powerplay. Those batting in the power play must take more responsibility.”
Najmul Shanto spoke about the teams’ mindset and skills and added that their team was not as bad as it seemed.
“I wouldn’t say we played badly. We are a better team than this. We haven’t done well in this format for a long time, but I don’t believe we are such a bad team,” said Najmul.
“I don’t want to talk about any individual player. I think the batting unit didn’t do well today. There will be aggression in the way we approach our scoring, but sometimes we have to select the balls correctly. We will think about it, but we can’t rush to change our approach.”
Varun Chakravarthy finishes with a three-wicket haul in his comeback match! 💪
Second catch for Hardik Pandya 🙌
Live – https://t.co/Q8cyP5jXLe#TeamIndia | #INDvBAN | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/3CxbO56Z4Z
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 6, 2024
“We have the ability, but we have room for improvement in our skills. We have been batting in this way for the last ten years. Sometimes we do well. We have to make some changes, perhaps where we practice back home.”
“We play on 140-150 wickets at home. Our batters don’t know how to score 180 runs. I won’t blame just the wickets, but we have to consider skills and mentality,” Najmul Shanto said.
Coming to the series, India leads the series 1-0 and Bangladesh will be looking to get back into the competition. The second T20I match of the tour will be played on October 09 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
