The Indian team outplayed Bangladesh by five runs in a nail-biting thriller in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup. Moments before the match, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al-Hasan in the pre-match press conference said that his team was not even playing for the trophy. They just thought to cause upset against the Men in Blue. 

“We haven’t come here to win the World Cup, but India have. If we win tomorrow, it will be an upset victory. India are favorites tomorrow,” Shakib stated in the pre-match press conference. 

Former India great Virender Sehwag has castigated Shakib Al-Hasan’s statement.  In an interaction with Cricbuzz,  “Iss baat ki responsibility toh captain ko leni chahiye na. Uss se pehle Shanto out hue, fir ussi over me Shakib bhi out ho gaye. Toh vo, vahan par galti ho gayi. 99/3, 100/4, 102/5, ye 3 wicket jo gire hain, inme ek saajhedaari ban jaati… aisa nahi hai ki T20 me aapko 50 runs ki saajhedaari chahiye. 10 ball me 20 run ki partnership bhi game palat sakti hai. (The captain should take responsibility. Shanto was dismissed before, and Shakib got out in the same over. They lose three quick wickets, if there had been one partnership… it isn’t as if you need a 50-run partnership in T20s. A 20-run partnership in 10 balls can also change the game),” Sehwag said.

“Mere khyaal se chook ho gayi, khud kaptaan se bhi. Vo kaptaan hain, experience bhi hai, responsibility bhi lein aur khele ant tak, jaise Kohli khelte hain. Team ko majhdaar se nikaalein, ya fir aisi ulti-seedhi statement naa dein. (I think the captain himself missed a trick. He has experience, he should take responsibility and play till the end like Kohli. He should’ve taken the team out of trouble, or else he shouldn’t make such nonsense statement),” Sehwag further said.

Talking about the India- Bangladesh match, India batted first and scored 184/6 in 20 overs. In reply to that, Liton Das starred with the bat for Bangladesh as he made 60 runs in just 27 balls. Rain played spoilsport and then the officials decided to reduce the overs and it turned out to be a 16-over game. The Bangla tigers have then been given the target of 151 runs and they were restricted to 145 runs.