Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib slammed his side’s sloppy fielding in their 62-run World Cup defeat against Bangladesh on Monday.
Naib’s men were guilty of a series of errors — dropping catches and committing careless misfields — as Bangladesh scored 262-7 in Southampton.
Those blunders were worth an extra 35 runs said Naib, who defended his decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Photo: AFP
“I’m happy with the toss, but if you look at the match, we missed a couple of catches and gave some extra runs,” he told reporters. “We gave away 30, 35 runs. Because of misfielding, we missed the opportunity again. Again, we didn’t bowl in the right area in the first 10 overs, and they scored like 50-something.”
Afghanistan slipped to 200 all out despite Naib’s 47 in a lackluster run-chase that suggested they would have been better off batting first.
Asked if it was a realistic target to chase, Naib lauded Shakib Al Hasan — the man of the match who took five wickets and scored 51 — saying: “If you look for the wicket, it’s chasable, but praise goes to Shakib. He bowled really well. He’s the world No. 1 all-rounder. He has a lot of experience, so he took time on the wicket when he batted. Also, he bowled really well, according to the plan.”
Naib was also frustrated by the bowling and fielding of star leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Rashid has endured a disappointing World Cup, conceding the most runs in the tournament’s history against England and failing to sparkle against Bangladesh.
“He’s giving his 100 percent, but if you look for the fielding side, I’m a little disappointed,” Naib said. “He’s also disappointed about the fielding. One time, he’s very angry in the field. I asked him just keep relaxed and just focus on your bowling, so I think he missed his momentum there because of fielding.”
Bangladesh moved up to fifth in the 10-team standings with seven points from seven games. The top four teams advance to the semi-finals.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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