T20 World Cup: Bangladesh will not hide behind fake fielding episode as excuse for loss, says Sridharan Sriram

Adelaide: Bangladesh’s technical consultant Sridharan Sriram on Saturday conceded that his side crumbled under pressure against India, adding that the team doesn’t want to use the “fake fielding” episode as an excuse for the loss against the neighbours in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Set a revised target of 151 in 16 overs after a brief spell of rain, Bangladesh had fell short by five runs against India. Bangladesh wicketkeeper batter Nurul Hasan, who kept his side in the game in the final over with a six and a four off Arshdeep Singh, later accused star India batter Virat Kohli of “fake fielding.” Criticising the on-field umpires after the game, Hasan alleged that they failed to notice an incident of “fake fielding” by Kohli, which could have earned them five runs. “No, we are not here to offer any excuses. I did speak to the fourth umpire as soon as it happened,” Sriram said at the pre-match press conference ahead of Bangladesh’s game against Pakistan. “But I think it was the on-field umpire’s call, and that’s what we were told, but we’re not here to offer any excuses,” he added. A video recording showed that Arshdeep threw the ball from the deep and Kohli — at point — feigned as if he were relaying it to the non-striker’s end. A relay throw is one where the fielder closer to the track catches the ball from deep and throws it at the stumps. The two batters — Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto — didn’t even look at Kohli and that’s why Nurul’s argument raises questions. Bangladesh were on course for a memorable win before rain interrupted play. After the match resumed, they needed 85 runs in nine overs with all wickets in hand, but crumbled under pressure. “Well, it was quite frantic for that brief 10, 12 minutes, which is understandable. I think the boys, nine runs an over or 9.75 runs an over, definitely I think the pressure got to them a little bit.” Out of semi-final contention, Bangladesh play their last group game against Pakistan on Sunday. Sriram said the team has gained a lot of confidence from the match against India despite the loss. “Well to come that close, if at the start of the game had anybody said that we’ll lose to India by five runs, anybody would take it. “So I think we got ourselves in an opportunity where we’re could have beaten India but we were not able to cross the line. But having come to close, I think the boys gained a lot of confidence,” he said. “It’s a great learning for them. I think it gives the team a lot of self-belief that if you can challenge a team like India and come so close, we are not far away.” Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.