Bangladesh batter Nazmul Hossain Shanto termed the batting unit responsible for their five-wicket defeat against Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup in Adelaide Sunday.
Bangladesh faced Pakistan with the golden opportunity of grabbing a semi-final spot.
The two teams were set for a do-or-die affair after the Netherlands pulled off a historic victory against South Africa in the first game of the day at the same venue.
Bangladesh however, failed to make use of the chance after the batting unit failed to post enough runs on the board.
After deciding to bat first, Bangladesh saw opener Shanto score his second half century in the format, and as many in the tournament, with a 48-ball 54 laced with seven boundaries.
However, the Bangladesh batters failed to make an impact with only three getting to score in double figure – Afif Hossain (24 not out), Soumya Sarkar (20) and Liton Das (10).
The Bangladesh batting line up fell apart following Shakib al Hasan's controversial leg-before wicket for a golden duck, but Shanto doesn't see the incident as a distraction and instead put the focus on the batters for their failure.
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“I don't think so [Shakib dismissal being a distraction]. The decision was confusing for everyone but we did not get stuck to that. We could have played better cricket. We all thought it was a not out but at the end it is for umpire to decide. This did not distract us, it is just us who did not play well in the middle and death overs,” said Shanto to the media following the game.
“We all wanted to win, it was a rare big opportunity for us. We wanted to make use of the opportunity and tried to give our 100% but we fell short in the middle,” he added.
Shanto perished to part-time spinner Iftikhar Ahmed in the 14th over.
The left-handed batter, who finished the tournament with most runs for Bangladesh, 180 in five innings with a strike rate of 114.64, said the total against Pakistan could have been more if he had managed to bat till the end.
“I think the wicket was for 140 to 150 runs. I knew it was important for me to finish but I failed. I was disappointed. We could have had a comparatively bigger total if the other batters had done well,” said the southpaw.
Speaking of his innings, Shanto said, “I think I batted according to the merit of the wicket. It was not an easy wicket to bat on. The ball was spinning in the middle overs. I think it was fine the way I batted.”