cricket

Updated: Nov 11, 2019 11:18 IST

Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad didn’t mince his words after Bangladesh succumbed to a comprehensive defeat in third and final T20I against India at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Sunday. India pacer Deepak Chahar stunned the visitors by picking up a sensational hat-trick to pack off Bangladesh for 144 in 19.2 overs while chasing 175 for victory.

Also Read: WATCH: Deepak Chahar claims maiden T20I hat-trick

“If I have to say about T20 format, we have a long way to go,” Mahmudullah said after the defeat. “We have to find out a lot of things. We don’t have big hitters. We have to be dependent on our skills, especially as a batting group.

“Our game sense needs to improve and we need to become more consistent mentally. So as a batting unit, if we can improve then we will have more chances to win.

“I am not sure whether it was the [lack of] composure or not. But if you see, we have made similar kind of mistakes in a few games in recent times. That’s where I think big teams are quite good. They are very consistent on these matters so that they can chase down such totals.”

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Mahmuddulah put blame on the senior batsmen, including himself, after their defeat. The likes of Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das are considered seniors in the team considering their wealth of experience in shortest format. However, they could muster only 8,0, 0 and 9 respectively in the third T20I.

“Yeah, if you say about today’s game, yes we [seniors] failed. That I agree because we had an opportunity but we couldn’t make it,” Mahmudullah said. “We had a chance when we needed 49 off 30 balls. But in the end, we lost a few wickets. We could have wrapped it up. That’s what cost the match for us.”

“T20 cricket is such a format, if you lose momentum then it’s very hard to get it back. We were very close in this game but we lost three-four wickets in six or seven balls. That was the crucial part of the game,” he added.