Questions arise about decision-making

After Bangladesh conceded a five-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their opening game of the Super 12 stage in Sharjah on Sunday, there were many questions besides the dropped catches by Liton Das.

Liton dropped catches of both Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, the players who guided Sri Lanka to victory over Bangladesh.

But eyebrows were raised at Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad’s bowling changes too as he left a total of three overs unused from three left-arm bowlers- Shakib Al Hasan, Nasum Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman.

Shakib picked up two wickets in the ninth over to send back Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando and Mohammad Saifuddin’s strike in the next over to remove Wanindu Hasaranga meant that the Tigers were clearly on top.

But from there on, Mahmudullah did not hand Shakib the ball for seven more overs. Instead, he bowled two himself and went with part-timer Afif Hossain with another.

Those three overs cost 36 runs, allowing Asalanka and Rajapaksa space to breathe and build the momentum. And once they got that, they unleashed on Saifuddin as they took 22 off the 16th over to take the game completely away from Bangladesh.

By the time Shakib returned to bowl the 17th over, Sri Lanka only needed 24 runs off the same number of deliveries, with six wickets in hand. It seemed like Shakib wasn’t brought on as two-left handers were at the crease, but it was left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed who finally got rid of Rajapaksa in the 19th over.

Shakib, before he was taken off bowling, had figures of two wickets for six runs. And in the end, Shakib had one over to spare. And so did Nasum and Mustafiz.

Nasum had been crucial to Bangladesh’s home success against Australia and New Zealand, whereas Mustafiz has been Bangladesh’s most successful bowler after Shakib. But both of them were left unused along with Shakib, just because two left-handers were batting. And that decision cost Bangladesh heavy.