'No intent with the bat' - Najmul Hossain Shanto attacks Bangladesh batters after loss to India

In the 47th match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh National Cricket Team locked horns with the Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team. The Super 8 match was held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday, June 22.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. The decision kind of backfired for Najmul Hossain Shanto & Co. as the bowlers weren't able to trouble the Indian batters and allowed the opposition team to register a total of 196/5. Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan Sakib bagged two wickets each for Bangladesh while former captain Shakib Al Hasan got one wicket.

Chasing the target, Bangladesh were never really in the game and it looked like they were just trying to avoid a massive defeat. The likes of Najmul Hossain Shanto (40) and Tanzid Hasan (29) tried to get going but their efforts weren't enough and Bangladesh were restricted to 146/8 in 20 overs, losing by 50 runs.

Speaking after the match, Najmul Hossain Shanto said that they bowled poorly and allowed India to post an above-par score. He said:

"We were thinking about 160-170 when we put them into bat, but they batted well so credit to them. [on the weather and wind] I don't think that is an issue, the players are habituated to that."

Najmul Hossain Shanto further attacked his batters for not showing enough intent which was required to chase down the humongous total. Najmul Hossain Shanto said:

"We did not show as much intent as we needed with the bat, when we are chasing 190, we needed to show more intent, especially in the first six. Try to contribute but need to finish the games."

Najmul Hossain Shanto at the end showered rich praise on Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rishad Hossain for contributing well in the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup.

"Tanzim Sakib in this tournament has done a great job and happy for Rishad too, we have been looking for a good legspinner for a long time now."

What happened in the previous T20 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh 

The previous T20 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh was hosted by Adelaide Oval on November 2, 2022. It turned out to be a thrilling encounter that saw the Bangla Tigers coming very close to thumping their Asian rivals.

A not-so-good bowling performance from the Bangladesh bowlers led to India making a commanding total of 184 for 6. The stars in the batting department in the innings were Virat Kohli (66 off 44), KL Rahul (50 off 32) and Suryakumar Yadav (30 off 16) while on the bowling side of things, Hasan Mahmud (3 wickets) and Shakib Al Hasan (2 wickets) did a good job.

When the second innings started, the match started to pick up the pace and became a nail-biting clash. Litton Das had his best day with the bat and he blasted seven fours and three sixes inside the first seven overs to lay a great foundation for Bangladesh's incredible victory over the Men In Blue.

However, it wasn't meant to be as the rain interrupted the play when they were at 66 for no loss and curtailed the match. The break was something Bangladesh didn't like as they had the momentum on their side and were going all guns blazing. 

After a delay, the target was revised to 151 in 16 overs and the Bangla Tigers were confident of chasing it down as they only needed 85 off 54 balls. But a chaotic run out of Litton Das, thanks to KL Rahul's direct hit, led to the downfall of Bangladesh.

The Bangla Tigers lost wickets at regular intervals and despite putting up a fight, they were reduced to 145/6, handing over India a hard-fought five-run victory.