Excitement of both Bangladesh and Afghanistan of playing the tri-nation T20I series were marred as rain played foul to force the match being abandoned at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday and thus the silverware was shared among the sides.
Following the wash-off, representatives of the two teams, Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah and Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan expressed disappointment to the media over not having a reserve day for the finale. Coming to the pros and cons from the 24-day-long schedule between the two sides – starting with the one-off Test followed by the T20I series which also involved Zimbabwe, perhaps it was Bangladesh that would need to look into the must dos going ahead.
The humiliating 224-run defeat in the Test followed by a 25-run defeat when they met Afghanistan in their first encounter of theT20I series, Bangladesh somewhat redeemed the situation with a win in their second match by four wickets.
However, the Tigers were looking forward to win again and clinch the trophy so that they may get a boost from their current dilapidated situation before they travel to India in November. The tour will involve Bangladesh’s start to the ICC Test Championship taking on India in a two-match Test series followed by a three-match T20I series.
“I personally believe we have played good cricket in T20I series [winning three in four matches played]. There are departments that we need to work on and our coach [Russell Domingo] already spoke about it to the media [on Tuesday]. Hopefully we will be able to work on it in before going into the next series,” said Mahmudullah to the reporters are SBNS.
“In most of the matches we lost early wickets which are not the ideal position to be in a T20 match. We spoke of these things as a group. As players we need to be responsible to have improvement in the concerned areas. We have to have sharp decision making. Against India we need to play our top game otherwise it will be difficult for us to beat them.said Mahmudullah.
For Afghanistan the tour was a memorable one as they not only achieved good result but also showed depth in their team across different formats. Following the historic Test win against Bangladesh, the side had 12 players travel back to country and have a new set of players joining for the shortest format of the game.
Skipper Rashid informed he is pleased to have his country develop the importance of having different players for different formats of cricket despite the war-torn country is yet to build a good infrastructure for the game.
“We already have different players in different formats and the best is we have too many players right now. Yes, we might not have the best of facilities back home but the payers are trying to use whatever facility we have and trying their best to play for the national team which is pleasing for me as the captain. For me it is good to have different players across formats as it helps me to adjust with the particular format quickly,” said Rashid.
