Towhid Hridoy has responded strongly to questions surrounding Bangladesh’s strategy in their Asia Cup opener against Hong Kong, stressing that the team prioritized winning safely rather than chasing a quick finish for net run-rate advantage.
Playing “Smart Cricket” Over Risky Hitting
Bangladesh successfully chased down Hong Kong’s 144-run target in 17.4 overs, finishing with 14 balls to spare. However, many felt they could have wrapped up the match earlier to boost their NRR. Addressing these concerns, Hridoy said the team’s mindset was clear.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒖𝒔,” 𝑯𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆.”
He admitted he struggled to find boundaries but maintained that preserving partnerships was more important than forcing the pace.
Captain and Player Justify the Approach
Bangladesh scored at a run rate of 8.28 per over. To leapfrog Afghanistan’s net run-rate of 4.70, they would have needed to finish the chase in under 12 overs. Captain Litton Das also pointed out that the Abu Dhabi surface and large ground dimensions didn’t favor big-hitting throughout the innings.
“𝑺𝒐, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒈? 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑻20𝒔,” 𝑯𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
He further emphasized that Bangladesh’s priority is to beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the coming games rather than complicate the group stage with early NRR pressure.
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