Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah has hit back at those, who questioned their commitment towards the team after a shocking loss against Scotland in the first fixture of the ongioing T20 World Cup. Bangladesh bounced back strongly to defeat Oman by 26 runs, followed by a 84-run thumping of Papua New Guinea as they booked a berth in Super 12s.
It is learnt that the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan had strong words for the experienced trio of Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan after their latest performance. Even after the win over Oman, many fans were unhappy as they felt Bangladesh could play better. Mahmudullah revealed that the criticism brought the team’s morale down.
“We all felt bad by each and everything, from all sides. We are human, we also have feelings. We expect criticism when it is warranted but if that resorts to being belittled, we feel bad. There were many questions, including about the three senior players’ strike rate,”
he stated.
Mahmudullah, who scored 50 off 28 balls against PNG, added that the players have been playing with injuries and doubting their commitment was not right.
“We tried hard, but we didn’t get the result. Everyone makes sacrifices. We play with injuries. Some of us take painkillers every day. Many don’t know about these things, so it is not right to talk about our commitment.”
Mahmudullah heaped praises on Shakib Al Hasan for producing back to back match-winning performances. The 34-year-old scored 42 off 29 and claimed three for 28 against Oman, followed by 46 off 37 and four for nine against PNG.
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The Bangladesh skipper backed Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman to come good and concluded with praises for youngsters Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Naim and Mohammad Saifuddin.
Bangladesh finished second in Group B and will be placed in Group 1 of Super 12s alongside Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and another qualifying team.
