The team director of the Bangladesh cricket team, Khaled Mahmud, was absolutely furious after his side lost a T20I series against Zimbabwe by 2-1. Mahmud, who was addressing the press conference at the end of the series, called the series defeat a “disgrace”.
According to Mahmud, the series defeat is particularly disappointing because Zimbabwe is not as good a side as Bangladesh and Bangladesh lost this series just because some of the players didn’t bat with the right approach.
Recalling the scenario in the third T20 international, which was the decider of the series as both teams had won one game each before that, Mahmud said that the required run rate for Bangladesh in the game had gone up to 10 and then to 12, but a couple of the Bangladesh batsmen were not taking any risks.
Khaled Mahmud was totally perplexed by the approach and he even went to the extent of saying that it seemed some of the Bangladesh batsmen were trying to save their own spots in the XI and they didn’t want to risk their wickets for the team.
Bangladesh losing to Zimbabwe is a disgrace, everyone was playing to protect their places – Khaled Mahmud team director. #BanvZim
— Najeeb ul Hasnain (@ImNajeebH) August 4, 2022
Liton Das can’t score runs for you every game: Khaled Mahmud
Khaled Mahmud insisted that it’s not possible for the team’s premier batsman Liton Das to score runs in all the matches that he plays. He will also fail at times and in that scenario, it’s the responsibility of the other batsmen to bat the way the situation demands, without thinking about their spots in the team.
Mahmud compared the approach of Bangladesh’s batsmen to that of the Zimbabwean batsmen and said they should learn from their counterparts like Ryan Burl who absolutely took the Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners and got his team past the score of 150.
Mahmud was particularly disappointed with Afif Hossain, who is regarded as one of the most talented emerging young batsmen in Bangladesh. Afif didn’t go for his shots as frequently as Mahmud would have liked him to, despite having the ability.
Khaled Mahmud calls Bangladesh's capitulation to Zimbabwe a "disgrace"
— Jaya Suriyan (@jayasuriyan5555) August 4, 2022
