'Not the end, we need to move on'

There was a lot that Bangladesh did right in yesterday's nail-biting encounter against India in Bangalore, but unfortunately for the men in green, they failed to strike at the most crucial juncture of the game.

The captain, coach, in fact the entire Bangladeshi team management had done their homework well. From placing deep points for both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the start of the game to setting up specialised field settings in order to curtail a flashy finish from MS Dhoni with the bat, almost everything went according to plan.

The smile on the face of Shakib Al Hasan – who was very involved in setting the fields and executing plans discussed before the match -- towards the end of the first innings suggested that their plan was working.

In fact, even when Bangladesh were doing well with the ball during the first 15 overs, there was an inherent fear among the fans that at one point of time the Tigers would just give it away with the ball, as they did in their last two matches against India in the Asia Cup.

However, that never happened and that is when the dreams of an upset -- beating India in India --started churning. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the ending was the same as that of the last two games. With two needed off three balls and Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad set at the crease, Bangladesh lost three wickets and a match they seemed destined to win.

"I think we did everything we could in order to win the game. Except for the last three balls, we played amazing cricket throughout,” said an understandably dejected Mashrafe Bin Mortaza after the match.

"I am not blaming anyone. It's shocking. Not just for me, but it's frustrating for all of us here. Nobody loses this kind of a game. It's difficult to explain that right now, but it's just disappointing nevertheless," said Mashrafe.

"Had we taken one run we would have needed one run off two balls. If we would have thought of all those things at that point of time it would have been good. Unfortunately things did not go as planned," he added.

The question that will haunt the Tigers is why the two set batsmen could not take singles after bringing the equation down to two off three balls. “It can be one of two things. The situation was difficult even then [at the start of the over] with 11 runs required off six balls. Hitting two fours in two balls brought the match in our favour,” Mashrafe explained. “He [Mushfiqur] could have been more careful then, but you can take it either way. After hitting two fours, any batsman's confidence is bound to be boosted.” 

Another thing that will be remembered about this match is how much the partisan crowd were into the game, perhaps hinting at the burgeoning rivalry -- albeit one-sided in this format so far – between the teams.

Despite the painful defeat, Mashrafe urged his teammates to move on. It's something that they have to do if they want to do well against the Black Caps in their last game of the World Cup.

"Bangladesh's cricket can't just end here. We have to come back and move on," he said.