Rashid threat led to bat first decision, says Mosaddek

Bangladesh batter Mosaddek Hossain came to the press conference after the seven-wicket defeat in his side's first game of the 2022 Asia Cup. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan had claimed at the toss that the wicket was good for batting, although his opposite number was perhaps more wary of the wicket, saying it might stay a bit low.

That proved to be the case as Bangladesh lost wickets trying to force the issue early and Afghanistan kept wickets intact and powered through in the last six overs, where they needed 63 runs.

A lot would be made of the decision to bat first and Mosaddek Hossain spoke of the Rashid Khan threat while chasing.

"If I say the same thing [regarding toss], when you bat against Rashid Khan, you don't want to be in a scenario where you need seven or eight an over. We wanted to be closer to the score we wanted but we could not completely keep to our plan," Mosaddek said at the press conference.

Mosaddek, who struck an unbeaten 31-ball 48 and gave wind to the Bangladesh innings, said that their idea was pretty similar to Afghanistan's in terms of getting set batters to pick up the scoring rate at the death overs.

"We missed that, but we were almost in a position to do that [set batters capitalising in death overs]. It becomes difficult when you lose wicket. Had we been able to keep wickets in hand, we could have taken it till the 15-over mark and it could have been a different case. But they played well," he said about not quite being able to execute their plans with him and Mahmudullah Riyad at the crease.

Regarding Tigers trying to change their approach in T20s and the lack of power-hitting, Mosaddek believed the message from the skipper was clear.

"Shakib bhai's message was clear. You all saw that too. Everyone gave their hundred percent but we could not do it. We will fight back in the next game," Mosaddek said.