Top order needs to bat more responsibly, says Najmul after Bangladesh's loss to New Zealand

Chennai: Bangladesh vice-captain Najmul Hossain Shanto asked his batters, especially the top-order, to 'bat more responsibly' as his side lost its World Cup match to New Zealand here by eight wickets.

Bangladesh have lost two of the three matches in this World Cup with the main concern being their top-order's inability to score runs and challenge the big teams in the tournament.

While they defeated Afghanistan in a low-scoring opening match, they came up woefully short against defending champions England, who won by 137 runs, and New Zealand, who won hands down here on Friday.

The Asian side could only post 245 here, which the Kiwis overhauled in just the 43rd over for the loss of two wickets.

"We do always plan how to bat, but we should bat more responsibly. There is always a challenge for the top order, especially with the new ball," said Najmul during the post-match press conference.

The top-order batter himself scored just seven runs in the match.

However, he expressed confidence of a comeback from the side, currently placed sixth on the 10-team table with two points.

"Obviously, we can make a comeback from here. All we need to do is to give a reasonable total for our bowlers to defend. More than pondering about what to do, it's vital to know how good are we playing."

Also, while defending the paltry total, experienced skipper Shakib Al Hasan surprisingly bowled out his quota of spin bowling quite early.

Explaining the logic behind that, Najmul said: "We did not score enough runs and did not bat well, so we needed early wickets. The pacers did bowl well, while the reason Shakib bowling his spell quickly was to gain quick wickets."

Providing an update on Shakib's condition, who seemed to be struggling while batting, Najmul said that the skipper had gone for scans for a left quad niggle.

The pitch at Chepauk was a bit different than the one offered for the India-Australia match, as it had some bounce on Friday. However, Najmul said it didn't come as a surprise to the team.

"Not really surprised by the track; the wicket looks pretty good. We didn't bat well. Had we scored at least 280-300, we could have defended it."

One of the notable things about Bangladesh in this tournament has been their batting order, which has not been stable and seen a bit of shuffling.

Najmul said that while the captain and the coach decide the batting order, he and every member in the side should be comfortable and ready to bat in any given position.

"I am always ready to bat at any position as per the team's requirement. I have scored runs in the past at number four. But, it is the captain and the coach who decide the batting order. Everyone in the team must be ready to bat at any position and any given match.Everyone in the team is informed beforehand about which position they would be batting in a particular game. It was this very move that allowed us to score a decent total against Afghanistan," he said.