ICC CWC 2023: "Had Litton, Tanzid batted longer...," says Bangladesh skipper Shanto after loss to Bangladesh
Oct 19, 2023
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 19 : Following his side's seven-wicket loss to India in their ICC Cricket World Cup match, Bangladesh stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said here on Thursday that things could have been different had openers Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan batted longer.
An explosive first wicket partnership between skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, followed by Virat Kohli's 48th ODI ton sealed India a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
"India is always a very good side. They are capable of playing this way and they showed us today that they can play better cricket (than us). All the teams (New Zealand, England and India) are very good. What I feel is we did not play our best game. Hopefully, we can do that in the future. (On Shakib's injury) He is recovering well. I am hoping he can be fit for the next match. Tanzid batted really well and all the fast bowlers bowled pretty well. But we did not finish well (with the bat). If Tanzid and Litton batted longer, could have been a different ballgame. Hopefully, in the next game, our batters can take responsibility," said Shanto in a post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, Bangladesh opted to bat first and there was a 91-run opening stand between Tanzid Hasan (51 in 43 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) and Litton Das (66 in 82 balls, with seven fours).
Following that, Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals, though important knocks came from Mahmudullah (46 in 36 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim (38 in 46 balls, with a four and six) that took Bangladesh to 256/8 in 50 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/38) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/41) were the pick of the bowlers for India. Mohammed Siraj took two wickets as well while Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur got one each.
In the chase of 257, skipper Rohit Sharma (48 in 40 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Shubman Gill (53 in 55 balls with five fours and two sixes) decided the outcome with their partnership itself. Virat's century and partnership with KL Rahul (34*), which saw some entertaining running between the wickets was the icing on the cake.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz took two wickets for Bangladesh and was the pick of the bowlers.
With four wins in four matches, India is in the second spot in the points table with eight points. New Zealand is at the top with a better net run rate. Bangladesh is in the seventh spot with one win and three losses.
Virat became the 'Man of the Match' for his ton.
