This is as bad as it gets: Shakib

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that his team’s batting has hit rock bottom after the humiliating 87-run defeat against the Netherlands in their ICC ODI World Cup match at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday.

Chasing 230, Bangladesh got bundled out for a mere 142, suffering their fifth straight defeat in the tournament.

Shakib, who scored just five runs in the match, didn’t know why Bangladesh’s batting has been so off-colour throughout the tournament, saying that their performance with the bat against the Netherlands was ‘as bad as it gets’.

“I thought we bowled really well but we were sloppy in the field. We should have restricted them to 160-170 from the position we were in. But we have been poor with the bat all tournament and this is as bad as it gets,” Shakib said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Throughout the tournament we have been struggling, I don’t know what’s on the players’ minds,” he added.

The Tigers still have three matches left in their World Cup campaign, against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.

After the Dutch humiliation, Bangladesh will get just a couple of days before they take on Pakistan at the same ground on October 31.

The skipper hopes that his team will somehow pick themselves up from this defeat and try to end the tournament on a high.

“There is more cricket to come. We have to pick ourselves up and I know it’s hard but we have to try to finish the tournament on a high.”

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