Ahead of SL vs BAN Asia Cup 2025 match Bangladesh star reveals they botched plans against Hong Kong

Bangladesh took 17.4 overs to defeat the comparably less strong team Hong Kong. Why did they take so much time to chase down the target when they had the opportunity to better their run rate? Ahead of the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup 2025 match, Towhid Hridoy, during the pre-match press conference, said that they could have ended the match a few overs ago; they had the plan but somehow were not able to utilize the plan.

Defending their gameplay, Hridoy opined that the result of the match is more important than the run rate. Bangladesh has been competing with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Oman in the group stage of the 2025 Asia Cup. Only two teams will qualify for the next round. Along with Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are also the strong contenders to go to the next phase of the tournament.

As a neck-to-neck rivalry is expected, the net run rate of each team can play a vital role. Bangladesh had the golden chance to increase their net run rate against Hong Kong. As of now, Afghanistan sits at the top with a net run rate of 4.700, while Bangladesh is second with 1.001.

"At the end of the day, the result is important. If we hadn’t won, you would have probably said something. Yes, we could have finished the game a little earlier, but we tried to play according to what the situation demanded," Hridoy said.

Bangladesh batted with slow run rate against Hong Kong

It was not the first instance when Bangladesh took a surprisingly defensive approach against a lower-ranked team. Why do they hesitate to go all out against these teams?

"All of us go to the field with a winning mentality. At the end of the day, what’s important is that the result went in our favor. It was in mind. But more importantly, we had to make sure the match didn’t slip away. Our plan was to finish quickly. In terms of execution, maybe we could have done it a bit earlier—maybe two or three overs earlier," he added.