Shakib’s Dubious Dismissal Ruins Bangladesh’s Momentum

Knowing that a victory against Pakistan would propel them to the T20 World Cup semifinal for the first time, Bangladesh looked highly determined to take advantage of batting first on the slow-paced pitch but a dubious leg-before dismissal of captain Shakib Al Hasan ruined the momentum as Bangladesh collapsed and tasted a five-wicket defeat eventually.

The dream to move to the semifinal was shattered but left Bangladesh ruing of what happened if Shakib Al Hasan survived through video review!

With Najmul Hossain Shanto playing a superb knock, Bangladesh got going well and reached 73-2 in 10.4 overs after the dismissal of Soumya Sakrar. It was the perfect platform to go on berserk and Bangladesh hoped to get that impetus from Shakib.

The Bangladesh captain tried to flick a low full toss delivery of leg-spinner Shadab Khan but missed it. The umpire gave out, much to the frustration of Shakib who reviewed it immediately, knowing that the ball touched his bat and ground before hitting his pad. The third umpire upheld the decision of ground umpire, saying that no bat was involved. Shakib looked utterly dejected and took some time to leave the ground. Later TV replay showed the ball really touched his bat before hitting the pad.

Bangladesh then lost the last seven wickets for 53 runs, giving Pakistan a small target to achieve. But it was not a cakewalk for Pakistan who had to play 18.1 overs and loss five wickets before reaching the winning target of 128.

Najmul Hossain Shanto who made 54 off 48 for his second half-century in the tournament refrained him from making any comment with umpiring as he had to follow the rules.

He admitted Shakib’s dismissal ruined the momentum but at the same time, blamed other batters for not to be able to capitalize on the start.

“Shakib is a big player and he is always used to play impact innings. However, the other batters who were in the team, couldn’t bat well. As we team we can’t play well actually, so we lost the game,” Shanto said after the match.

“We had won two matches in the tournament and in those two matches we played as a team. But here we batted badly.”

Bangladesh’s previous match against India was also controversial as they accused India’s star player Virat Kohli of fake fielding during the game, which according to them should give them five penalty runs. Bangladesh indeed lost the match to India by exactly five runs. Also, Bangladesh had reservations to play just after the rain break as they wanted the ground to be dried up adequately.

When those things were noticed, Shanto said, “There is no point of discussing these issues since we can’t control this.”

Shanto also blamed himself for not surviving till the last.

“The way I played, I think if I could stay a bit longer, the team would have been beneficial. But I got out in the crucial moment, just after when Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed,” he said.

“We knew that it was a slow wicket and 140/150 will be enough to win the game here. So to get to that score, I needed to stay in the crease which I couldn’t do.”

Shanto further said that the dressing room environment was calm despite knowing that they got an opportunity to reach the semifinal.

“We knew a win would help us seal the semifinal. We took it as an opportunity and tried to play as a team. Everyone tried to give their 100 percent but at the end, we actually couldn’t play as a team.”