T20 captain Shakib al Hasan blamed death over bowling for Bangladesh’s group stage exit from the Asia Cup.
The Tigers lost both their matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and on each occasion, the opposition sealed the deal in the death overs owing to ineffective Bangladesh bowling.
“Death bowling is something we are looking to improve and that has cost us the game. The last two overs they were eight down and needed to get 17-18 runs and they got home with a lot of balls to spare. We are not bowling well in the death,” said Shakib in the presentation ceremony following their two-wicket loss against India in Dubai Thursday.
“We should give lot of credit to Sri Lanka, the way they held their nerves. We wanted to pick wickets, and saw the fast bowlers were picking wickets. There was pressure on Sri Lanka. Whenever the bowlers bowl, they need to execute their plans.
“If you look at the last six months, we were not competitive but we were very competitive this time. We need to work in a lot of areas before the T20 World Cup in Australia.”
The Tigers will now lick their wounds before turning attention to the T20 tri-series against hosts New Zealand and Pakistan next month.
