Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his side will look for a better plan after their ‘new approach’ failed miserably against India in the first T20I at Gwalior on Sunday.
Bangladesh were all out for 127 in 19.5 overs after being asked to bat first, which reflected their poor batting performance in the game.
India then cruised to 132-3 in 11.5 overs to earn a comfortable seven wicket win and to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Coming off a 2-0 clean sweep in the Test series, captain Shanto stated that a new Bangladesh would be seen with a new approach in the T20Is.
However, the approach was hardly noticeable, as only the ‘hit everything hard without considering anything’ seemed to be their style.
Bangladesh were under pressure when they lost the two openers within 13 balls. Following that, half of their batters were dismissed inside the first 10 overs, as the Tigers slipped to 57-5.
Shanto explained that the disappointing batting performance was due to the team’s slow start during the powerplay and the overly aggressive approach by the batters.
‘We need to do proper planning in the next match. 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,’ said Shanto in the post-match press conference.
‘We have not been doing well in this format for a while but I don’t believe we are this bad.’
Bangladesh’s batting collapse raised concerns about their performance in the T20 format, a struggle that has persisted for a long time.
Their typical score in this format appears to be stuck between 120-130. Shanto also believed that playing at high-scoring wickets at home would help them improve their batting.
‘When we play at home, usually we get 140-150 runs. So, batters know how to go about that but don’t know how to get 180 scores. It will be better if we practice in those sorts of wickets but it’s not just wickets, there is a mental and skill factor to it,’ he said.
He feels they fell short against an inexperienced Indian team because of their lack of ‘skill and mentality.’
However, the skipper remained optimistic about his team’s potential.
‘We have the capability, I believe that. But there is a lot of room for improvement in skill… If you see the last 10 years, this is how we bat and sometimes we play well. So maybe when we practice at home, maybe the wicket needs to be different…there must be some sort of change,’ he added.
Bangladesh will head to the second match against India scheduled on October 9, in New Delhi.