The way Tamim and Naim batted in powerplays was spot-on: Mahmudullah
Although the openers had 31 dot balls in their 71-run partnership from 66 balls, Mahmudullah felt that it was the right way to bat on a surface that was slow.
Bangladesh Twenty20 International (T20I) team captain Mahmudullah Riyad believes that openers Tamim Iqbal and Naim Sheikh batted very well during the powerplay overs in the first T20I against Pakistan.
Although the openers had 31 dot balls in their 71-run partnership from 66 balls, Mahmudullah felt that it was the right way to bat on a surface that was slow and difficult to time the ball for the new batsman.
"The way we batted in the powerplays was spot-on. Tamim and Naim batted very well. But when the ball started to get old, it became more difficult for the latter batsmen to go for the big shots straight away. So I felt over there we fell behind about 10-15 runs," Mahmudullah said at the post-match press conference.
Bangladesh eventually posted 141/5 in their 20 overs and lost the match by five wickets and somehow managed to take the game to the last over and the T20I skipper appreciated the bowling effort.
But he felt that the fielding could have been better as catches were dropped and run-out chances were missed, and he also thought that there were some loose deliveries down the leg which gave the Pakistan batsmen easy boundaries.
"After getting 140 odd, the bowlers bowled pretty well to take the game to the last over but we gave about six to seven easy boundaries by bowling too much down the leg-side. We could have done that better and we could have also fielded better and things could have been different," Mahmudullah explained.
Mahmudullah also gave credit to the way experienced Pakistan campaigned Shoaib Malik batted and how man-of-the-match performance helped Pakistan win: "Shoaib Malik played very well and he held the other batsmen together and he guided the chase brilliantly."
The 33-year-old also admitted that the services of experienced wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was missed as Mushfiq had opted out of the Pakistan tour citing safety concerns from his family.
"Yes, we missed the service and the experience of Mushfiqur Rahim because he has been a top performer in all three formats for us. We can't think too much about that and we have to think about the players we have and how we can play better as a unit," Mahmudullah concluded.
