“T20 Is Not Only About Hitting”: Bangladesh Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto Addresses Batters’ Struggle In 1st T20I

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto acknowledged Bangladesh’s shortcoming with the bat and the failure to give bowlers enough runs to defend during their 7-wicket defeat in the T20I series opener against India on Sunday. The aggression that was displayed by the Test team in Kanpur certainly affected India’s young T20I team. After being put to bat, Bangladesh batters toiled hard to put runs on the board while facing a young Indian bowling side. The powerplay turned out to be a dry spell with the bat for Bangladesh. The openers misfired in their attempt to pile up runs on the board. Arshdeep Singh stung Bangladesh twice as the visitors crawled their way to 39/2 after the first six overs.

Bangladesh’s plan to play “positive cricket” flopped with India’s bowlers increasing the intensity with each passing over. Shanto addressed their struggle in the powerplay and felt the need to approach the second T20I with a “proper plan”.

“Yes, I think we didn’t start well. In T20, the first six overs are important, but we didn’t do well. The plan was to play positive cricket, but we had to manage some overs and how we wanted to approach it. Looks like we didn’t have much plan, but we need to do a proper plan in the next match,” Shanto said in the post-match presentation.

“We need to focus on rotating the strike. T20 is not only about hitting. If we keep wickets in hand, we can get a good score. We didn’t score many runs. Rishad bowled well, and Fizz was also good, but we didn’t have enough runs,” he added.

Bangladesh’s tepid outing with the bat made it challenging for them to put a massive total on the board. Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s late cameo of 35* runs propelled Bangladesh’s score to 127.

In reply, India’s aggression saw them chase down the target with more than eight overs to spare.

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