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'We Should Have Batted First' - Shakib Blames 'Captain' Shanto's Decision At Toss For Loss Vs IND

Shakib Blames Captain and Coach Behind India Loss- (X.com)Shakib Blames Captain and Coach Behind India Loss- (X.com)

On Saturday, June 22, Bangladesh suffered their second straight defeat in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2024 after India defeated Bangla Tigers by 50 runs. 

The two teams locked horns at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, where Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and asked India to bat first. The decision to field first backfired for Bangladesh as the Men in Blue put 196 runs on the board courtesy of a fifty from Hardik Pandya. 

In reply, Bangladesh had a positive start, but lost wickets regularly and could not read Kuldeep Yadav, who took a three-wicket haul. The pitch was ideal to bat which is why the fans and pundits were surprised by Najmul Shanto's decision to field first. Notably, Rohit Sharma too expressed his desire to bat first anyways. 

In the latest events, former Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan put the blame on captain Shanto and Bangladesh management and stated that they decided to field first and agreed that they should have batted first. 

“Personally if you ask me in the Caribbean it’s one or two games – when England chased that 180. Other than that batting first has been the trend for most of the teams, and they have been very successful. So, if you look at the stats, ideally you would have batted first, but maybe the captain and coach thought otherwise,” said Shakib in the post-match press conference.

Further, Shakib also clarified that he no longer plays any part in the decision-making. 

“No, I don’t have any part or role in this. These are not the issues of experience or seniority. When there is a leader, a captain, it’s his decision. If we would do well, the credit would go to the captain. If we did badly, we question the decision of the coach and captain. It’s normal. It seems very reasonable to me."

Bangladesh will now face Afghanistan on June 25 and even if they win that game, they would have to rely on other results to advance further in the tournament.