Bangladesh batters didn’t make right decisions at the right time: Nic Pothas

Nic Pothas. (Photo Source: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas has clarified that the team failed to bat well against Pakistan in the first Super Four match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 and hence, the team suffered a seven-wicket loss. The top order absolutely collapsed and following which, skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim took command of the situation but neither could take it to the next level as the Bangla Tigers posted 193 runs in the first innings.

Pakistan chased it with absolute ease and hence, Bangladesh have a lot of issues to address ahead of the Sri Lanka game on September 9 in Colombo. Talking about their batting, Pothas mentioned that the batters didn’t make the right decisions and that led to a collapse in the end. He added that the team management is trying to find the right combination but expects the cricketers to remain consistent in the coming matches.

“From a batting point of view today, it was all about decision-making. We probably didn’t make the right decisions at the right time for these conditions, but that’s always going to be a challenge with a team that is just starting through transition,” Pothas told reporters after the game in Lahore.

“Rather than looking too far ahead, it’s just about some consistency. We are trying to find the right combination for us at the moment, and we are a team that is in transition. So yeah, some consistency at the moment, I think that would be the goal,” he added.

Pothas opens up on Bangladesh’s aggressive batting approach

Pothas believes that the batters shouldn’t have played an aggressive brand of cricket in the initial overs as Pakistan have a world-class pace attack. However, he explained that it’s the byproduct of playing modern cricket and batters often take risks to get going.

“When you win the toss and bat first, you obviously want to put a score on the board, but you are also talking about an elite bowling attack. I think where we made it a little bit easier for the attack is the option that we took against that seam attack in the heat. Ideally, we would like to bat a lot deeper than that and put a score on the board, and that is the nature of cricket when playing against top seam attacks. Yes, we need improvement in that area, but if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it,” he said.