Dot balls hurt us: Mahmudullah

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah lamented his team’s performance in the middle overs and pointed out that a high percentage of dot balls was the reason behind their sixwicket loss to India in the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 tri-series on Thursday.

A visibly disappointed Bangladesh skipper said at the postmatch press conference, “We struggled in the middle overs and also played a lot of dot balls. At the same time, we threw our wickets away.”

In the Bangladesh innings, there were 46 dot balls in their total of 139 and Mahmudullah said this was the major factor in the team not getting any momentum.

“There was a bit doubt. The dot balls made that evident. I myself played seven dot balls and got dismissed. We need to take care of the dot balls or else it is tough to progress in this format. We cannot depend only on boundaries but also look for singles to take off the pressure,” Mahmudullah said.

TEAM EFFORT NEEDED

Bangladesh’s loss was their 10th in their last 11 games and it prolonged their woes against India against whom they have lost all six of their Twenty20 International games.

Mahmudullah said a combined effort from batsmen and bowlers was necessary for the team to stage a turnaround. “The only way out is that we have to play well, there is no alternative. If the batsmen are doing the job, the bowlers are failing.

“In this game, the bowlers did well but the batsmen failed,” Mahmudullah said.

Bangladesh will next take on Sri Lanka in their second game on Saturday while India will face Sri Lanka on March 12.

We need to take care of the dot balls or else it is tough to progress in this format. We can’t depend only on boundaries. MAHMUDULLAH, Bangla skipper