Galle, Sri Lanka (BBN) - Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim regretted his team's inability to draw the first Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday in Galle.
Resuming with the overnight score of 67 for no loss on the final day, Bangladesh were shot out for 197 to lose by 259 runs on a wicket that offered little help for bowlers, reports Cricbuzz.
"Last night the way the openers batted, I thought the wicket was pretty good. Still, it doesn't look like a day-five wicket. It doesn't look like there is anything wrong with the wicket. We had a hope that if we managed to survive the first one hour, we could do something," Mushfiqur told journalists.
"We lost our top five batsmen in the first hour. After that it's very difficult to recover. They had to just bowl the right line and length from thereon. Losing that many wickets in the first hour cost us the game. We were outplayed in all three departments and they deserved to win," Mushfiqur added.
"If we could have stuck to our basics, ball after ball, then the session could go either way. And if we lost maximum one or two wickets in the first session, then I think the last two sessions could have been a different ball game. There are lots of areas to work on and we don't have enough time, but there is one more game to go and one more opportunity to come back in the series."
Although the margin of defeat was massive, Bangladesh had their moments in the game.
One of the turning points of the Test match was when Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis was recalled after being caught behind off a no-ball on the first delivery he faced. He went onto post a career best 194.
"If Subashis did not bowl the no-ball, one or two wickets could have fallen then. There are some areas that we didn't do ourselves justice. The no-ball is a big crime, no matter when you bowl it, and when you take a wicket off it, it becomes really bad. These are areas we have to work on, because this also happened in a previous series when a no-ball got someone out, and it's very difficult to come back from that," Mushfiqur said.
While Sri Lanka played three specialist spinners in the game, Bangladesh went the opposite direction, opting for three specials seamers, which earned the visitors criticism. But Mushfiqur refused to put his team's defeat down to team selection, and reckoned the batsmen let the side down.
"The bowling did not cost us the Test match, the batting did. Even with spin, there was nothing so exceptional that troubled us. You can say that since we wereso far behind in the first innings and we had such a big target, the opposition could bowl with a lot of freedom. That put us on the back foot. I don't think there was a problem with our combination."
BBN/SK/AD