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Updated September 14th, 2019 at 20:39 IST

Neil McKenzie defends under-fire Bangladesh batsmen, asks for time

Bangladesh batting coach Neil McKenzie on Saturday defended their under-fire batsmen after yet another sub-par performance and said that team needs more time.

Neil McKenzie
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Bangladesh batting coach Neil McKenzie on Saturday defended their under-fire batsmen after yet another sub-par performance. The South Asian side managed to beat Zimbabwe by three wickets in the opening match of the tri-nation Twenty20 series on Friday to end a six-match losing streak in all formats but needed to be rescued by the unheralded Afif Hossain while precariously positioned at 60-6, chasing 144. The teenager hit 52 off 26 balls after more experienced players like Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das failed on home turf against an inexperienced Zimbabwe attack. Shakib scored just one run, after conceding 30 runs in an over earlier that allowed Zimbabwe to post a competitive score.

"I think international cricket is hard cricket. You can't always score. And you can see Shakib. He was magnificent in the World Cup," said McKenzie. "There are lot of guys who played really well in the last six months in international cricket. As soon as they don't score in one or two games... everybody gets excited and upset." 

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McKenzie defends Bangladesh batsmen

McKenzie also backed Liton and Soumya, who made 19 and four respectively after failing to shine earlier during an embarrassing 224-run Test defeat at home to Afghanistan. "We have so many good players at the moment and we just need guys to jump out the box and be a lot more consistent," said the former South African opener. "There's no doubt about their ability. It's all about consistency."  Bangladesh will face Afghanistan in their second match of the tournament on Sunday. "They are not machines. They are humans. We just get behind our team and back our team and even if we lose tomorrow, we will win the next game," said McKenzie."We don't come out to lose. Bangladesh come out to play 100 percent positive cricket with no fear."

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Shakib Al Hasan's statement 

The 32-year-old player said that he believed that the decision to leave the captaincy will also be good for his game. He also dropped a hint that there will be a lot of discussions with the board if he continues being the captain. Shakib, during the ICC World Cup, finished third on the list of highest run-scorers, he scored 606 runs in eight innings. Apart from this, the left-arm spinner also picked up 11 wickets during the World Cup season. After the World Cup, Shakib took a break during Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka. Their team lost all three ODIs during this tour as well. 

Read: HomeSports News Cricket NewsBangladesh name squad for tri-nation T20 series, drop top bowlers

Match against Afghanistan 

Afghanistan was playing its third match after officially being recognized as a test-playing nation. Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan by 224 runs on Monday. The rains also interfered in the last day of the match series on Monday when 18 overs of the game were left to be bowled. Later, Shakib’s wicket was taken which created pressure on the team. Shakib explained that his team will have to play well consistently and they also needed to improve the quality of their game. Taking the blame of the defeat on his shoulders, he said that they had to only play for an hour and a half, but his wicket was taken on the first ball itself. He also revealed that he was nervous when he came out to bat. 

READ | Afghanistan smash 7 sixes in 7 balls versus Zimbabwe; Fans on cloud 9

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Published September 14th, 2019 at 20:26 IST

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