After the defeat, coach Mohammad Salahuddin told The Daily Star that he was disappointed with the team’s performance. The coach apologised to the country for falling short of expectations and accepted responsibility for the failure. We are really embarrassed, to be honest. As a coach, I believe that we have fallen short of the expectations placed on us. According to The Daily Star, Salahuddin stated, “It is really disappointing, and I want to apologise to the entire nation.”
After losing the bronze-medal playoff to Sri Lanka by 63 runs on October 3, 2026, at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Bangladesh finished fourth at the Asian Games. Bangladesh only achieved 102 all out in 17.3 overs, compared against Sri Lanka’s 165 for 9. Bangladesh’s campaign ended without them being able to recapture the gold medal they had won in 2010 after they had also lost to Pakistan in their quarterfinal.
This wicket may have been chased: Mohammad Salahuddin
Mohammad Salahuddin considered the team’s overall performance and their tournament objectives. He admitted that although every player had arrived with the goal of winning, the execution did not live up to expectations. It was everyone’s goal to win. We arrived with an objective, but we were unable to fulfilll it. We played poorly. Salahuddin stated, “We hope that they will play better in the future.”
The coach evaluated if the goal of 166 could be reached at Nisshin. Salahuddin thought his squad could achieve the goal despite the difficult circumstances. It is certainly feasible. Salahuddin remarked, “I believe it was possible on this wicket.”
During the game, Bangladesh’s failure to carry out their strategy proved to be costly. The coach identified various areas, especially in the batting powerplay and bowling department, where the team’s approach failed. Our elite bowlers were unable to bowl in the locations we had anticipated. Salahuddin remarked, “But the spinners bowled really well.”
Bangladesh’s innings began with their batting meltdown during the powerplay. The team’s absence of all-rounders who could steady the middle order made recovery particularly challenging after losing five or six wickets early. I believe we were in too much of a rush when batting. Re-entering the game after losing five or six wickets during the powerplay is quite challenging. We don’t really have so many all-rounders, in contrast to other teams,” Salahuddin remarked.
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Salahuddin said the team would still support the death-overs specialist despite Mustafizur Rahman’s dismal performance in the game, in which he gave up 25 runs in his opening over, including seven wides and two no-balls. Our expert in death-overs has always been Fizz (Mustafiz). We continue to believe in him. We might still support him in the same manner even if he fails once more, Salahuddin stated.
The coach reiterated the team’s overall failure and the necessity of addressing systemic problems in his closing remarks. Salahuddin stressed that the team’s overall performance at the Asian Games was flawed and that the defeat was not the fault of any one player. We will attempt to figure out how to go past this, and we are undoubtedly embarrassed that they have failed. However, to be honest, as a team, we didn’t do well,” Salahuddin remarked.
