Bangladesh limited-over captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza said his side was clearly 20 runs short in the Asia Cup Twenty20 final against India at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
Mashrafe also added that heavy rainfall prior to the start of the grand finale took the momentum away from the home side.
India displayed clinical cricket to register a comfortable eight wicket win with seven deliveries remaining and bag the continental title for a record sixth time.
“I think we cannot blame anyone as the wicket was pretty good to bat on in the second half. Obviously losing the toss was one of the key factors as I felt the pitch was more of a 135-140 wicket in the latter part. I think we were clearly 20 runs short on this wicket and if we could have done that, things would have been different,” Mashrafe informed the media during the post-match press conference.
Mashrafe however, refused to read too much into the defeat, especially with the upcoming World T20 knocking at the door. The Tigers face the Netherlands in their first round opener this Wednesday in Dharamsala.
“Obviously, we will take a lot from this tournament. Playing the final is a big achievement for us and the boys have done really well. We can take the positives to the World [T20] as we have to play the qualifier first. We can’t think much of the loss as we are flying (today morning). So we have to prepare mentally. Hopefully this defeat will not bother us and playing against India is always tough, especially in T20s,” said Mashrafe.
The “Narail Express” concluded by thanking the fans for their relentless support throughout the competition and urged them to keep their faith as something good is coming in the future.