Fielding plays a big part in T20: Shakib Al-Hasan

Following back-to-back losses, Bangladesh are in a desperate situation to keep their hopes alive in the ICC World T20. And on Wednesday, the qualifiers will take on a formidable India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

With the setbacks of losing key bowlers — Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny — Bangladesh’s woes continued owing to sloppy fielding and catching against Australia.

Bangla all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan hopes for a better show in the next two matches. “Fielding is a big part in a T20 game. (We) would love to take all the catches and would love to save runs. We couldn’t do it yesterday. It was disappointing because we have some young players and outstanding fielders. Hopefully, we won’t make the mistakes we made,” said Shakib.

With Taskin banned by the ICC for suspect bowling action, Bangladesh is missing the services of the pacer. “Obviously he (Taskin) was bowling well for last six months or so. Yes, he was important part of the team,” admitted Shakib. On questioned about promoting the in-form Mahmudullah up the batting order Shakib said, “That’s totally up to the captain and coach. What they think will be suitable. I think he batted at No. 5 for a few games. Everything depends on the situation and team combination.”

Meanwhile, Shakib while being all praise for India’s batting strength is confident of a better show with the ball. “He (Rohit Sharma) is a key player. The names (Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina) you have mentioned are all match-winners. Yes, they are not scoring runs. But you need to be careful. The batting order they have is probably one of the best in world cricket now. We need to be disciplined in our bowling to restrict them,” he explained.

On their loss to Australia on Monday, Shakib mentioned, “If we had scored 15-20 more runs, it would have been a different ballgame. So we need to improve there. Batsmen who are getting runs need to contribute bit more to finish the game. We didn’t field well. There are plenty of areas to improve.”