Our batters don’t know how to score 180 runs. Najmul Hossain Shanto

Bangladesh’s captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, spoke candidly about the team’s continued troubles, especially in the vital powerplay overs, following the team’s seven-wicket defeat by India in the first match of their three-match Twenty20 International series.

Bangladesh has recently had difficulty and has not been able to maintain consistency in the game’s shortest format. These problems were evident in the most recent game against India, when Bangladesh scored just 39 runs during the powerplay and ultimately set a target of 128. Conversely, the Men in Blue easily reached the mark with 49 balls remaining after racing to 71 runs in their powerplay. Shanto addressed the team’s faults head-on in his post-match remarks.

“Powerplay is clearly concerning. The strategy we discussed (before to the game) will work if we get off to a strong start at bat. We need to score runs in the opening six overs and hold onto the wickets. If not, it will become too difficult for the people that arrive after them. We’ve had trouble on the powerplay. More accountability is required of those batting in the power play,” Shanto told reporters following the game.

We didn’t play poorly, in my opinion: Najmul Hossain Shanto

The opening combination has scored just 69 runs in their last eight innings, including a stand of just 35. The middle order has continuously been under pressure due to this lack of a strong foundation. Shanto stated that the team’s approach to T20I cricket had basic faults in addition to the continuous troubles in the powerplay.

“We didn’t play poorly, in my opinion. This is not our best team. Although we haven’t performed well in this style recently, I don’t think our team is all that horrible. I have no desire to discuss any one athlete. I believe that today’s batting lineup wasn’t very good. We will approach scoring with vigor, but there will be instances when accurate ball selection is required. We can’t hurry into altering our strategy, but we will give it some thought,” he continued.

The southpaw also emphasized the differences between local and global cricket conditions. Shanto is still upbeat about his team’s prospects even though he acknowledges the skill gap that separates Bangladesh from elite T20I teams like India.

“We are capable, but we can still sharpen our abilities. For the past ten years, this is how we have been hitting. We perform well at times. We need to adjust in certain ways, maybe even in our home practice.

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At home, we play on 140–150 wickets. Our hitters are incapable of scoring 180 runs. I won’t point the finger solely at the wickets; we also need to take skill and mindset into account,” he said.