Shakib Al Hasan concedes Bangladesh’s campaign over: No chance to play in semis

Shakib Al Hasan threw in the towel and conceded that Bangladesh’s campaign in T20 World Cup 2024 is as good as over. On Saturday, June 22

The Tigers lost to India by 50 runs in the Super 8 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. With the defeat, Najmul Hossain and Co. kept languishing at the bottom of the table in Group 2 with a net run rate of -2.489.

Bangladesh lost to Australia, after which they failed to put up much of a fight against Rohit Sharma’s men. Their last and final Super 8 clash is against Rashid Khan’s Afghanistan at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent. Shakib said that the Tigers would want to finish off on a positive note with a clinical showing against their Asian rivals.

“To be honest, I don’t think we have a chance to play the semi-final anymore after today’s loss. But having said that, the next game will be an opportunity for us to get a win on our belt before we finish up this tournament. We’d love to finish this tournament on a high. We have to face Afghanistan, which is a very good side. So, we have to be at our best to be able to win against them,” Shakib said in the post-match press conference.

‘Could not create enough pressure’

Shakib said that Bangladesh were not able to create enough pressure on the opposition. After opting to field first, the Tigers conceded 197, a total Shakib felt was a tad above par. Thereafter, Shanto’s men finished with 146 for 8 and fell way short of the target.

“Well obviously, when you are playing against a team like Australia and India, you have to bring your A game. I think we are lacking in those skill and strength areas. Also, I would say we couldn’t do the basic thing longer enough to be able to create any sort of pressure. And throughout this World Cup, as a batting unit, I don’t think we did justify to ourselves. I think we had the potential to score big runs. The last two games we played here was very good. Wicket probably 175-185 is the par score,” Shakib added.

Shakib, himself, did not have the best of outings by any means. Although he got the wicket of Rohit, he did not finish his quota after finishing with figures of 3-0-37-1. With the bat, Shakib scored 11 runs off 7 balls before Kuldeep Yadav accounted for his wicket.