ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Beaten Bangladesh need to get mentally tougher says Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh found India a step too far in the Champions Trophy semi-final on Thursday, losing by nine wickets with nearly ten overs to spare, and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said they needed to toughen up mentally.

Bangladesh made 264 for seven in their 50 overs but then never came close to worrying India’s impressive upper order batsmen.

It was the first time that the Tigers had reached the last four of a major tournament but Mortaza was in no mood for self-congratulation.

“Yeah, obviously the boys should feel pride, but I think in a tournament like this, you have to be, I think, physically or skill-wise at your peak,” he said. “Yes, we are coming up still. We need to learn so many things. But I think we need to be a little bit more ready mentally for playing this sort of match.”

There was no sign of lack of focus from Tamim Iqbal (70) or Mushfiqur Rahim (61) as they put on a third wicket partnership of 123.

But both were removed playing wild shots to occasional off-spinner Kedar Jadhav and their departure led to a major loss of momentum.

The weakest part of Bangladesh’s performance was with the ball where, not only did …read more