The wickets were different from those in Mirpur: Taskin
Taskin consistently crossed the 140 kph- mark and made the batters play false shots. But 84 was never going to be a total that Bangladesh could defend.
Taskin Ahmed's sensational four-over spell was the lone shining light for Bangladesh against South Africa in their fourth Super 12s game in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The right-arm quick bowled his heart out and made the Proteas work hard to chase down 85.
Taskin consistently crossed the 140 kph- mark and made the batters play false shots. But 84 was never going to be a total that Bangladesh could defend.
"The pitch had some seam movement and pace. I stuck to my basics. But at the end of the day, it doesn't feel great when the team loses. We have been on the back foot, having lost a few games on the trot. The batting unit was low in confidence. They (South Africa) bowled well as well. We couldn't put enough runs on the board," said Taskin.
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"I believe we couldn't play to our potential. We are a better side than that. We missed a few opportunities that we should've made use of in the previous matches," he added.
Taskin said that the scenario could've been completely different had Bangladesh put up a better show with the bat against South Africa. "120-125 could've been a more challenging total. The wicket was slightly different today. The ball was moving around even in the second innings. They took 14 overs to score 85. Things could've been different if we had scored some more runs."
Taskin mentioned that lack of collective effort was one of the reasons why Bangladesh failed to live up to the expectations in the tournament. "At the end of the day, runs are important in T20 cricket. In some matches, we couldn't post good totals. In some games, we couldn't chase. We couldn't bowl well in matches where we batted well. As a team, we couldn't play to our potential."
"Here in the UAE, wickets are good, quite different from those back home in Mirpur. We will improve in all departments if we get to play on sporting wickets there. The results might not always go in our favour, but playing on good pitches will benefit us big time in global tournaments," added Taskin.
