Bangladesh chose to bat in their Champions Trophy opener against India in Dubai and were 35 for 5 inside nine overs - it could have been 35 for 6 if Rohit Sharma hadn't dropped a dolly off Jaker Ali off Axar Patel's hat-trick ball in that ninth over. Towhid Hridoy, who partnered Jaker in an impressive sixth-wicket stand of 154 and scored 100 off 118 balls to lead the way, said that the situation meant he had to "had to fight and find a way" to take the innings to a competitive place.
"We were clear what we wanted to do if we won the toss. We wanted to bat. Yes, we lost some early wickets, which set us back. But despite that, the way we came back, Jaker and I, if one of us had done a bit more, we might have got to 260-270," Hridoy said at the press interaction afterwards. "The match scenario would have been different then. We scored 30-40 runs too few. If you see, they took 46.3 overs to finish the chase, so it wasn't easy.
"The pitch was tricky. Look at their innings, they were not too comfortable either. But that's not in our hands. Conditions are different everywhere - we have to play on the pitch we get. This is not an excuse. I am just saying that the pitch was tricky to bat on."
Hridoy had walked out at No. 5, with Bangladesh at 26 for 3, with Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana having picked up the wickets to fall. Then Axar took over, sending back Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim off back-to-back deliveries. With Jaker then, progress was slow but steady, perhaps not ideal, but Bangladesh couldn't afford to lose more wickets at that stage. That said, it did look like the pitch had eased out and batting was comparatively easy.
"It might have looked easy, but it wasn't, since we had lost five wickets," Hridoy said. "We talked a lot with each other and to ourselves. We had to fight and find a way. I played a lot of dot balls at the start, but I felt I would be able to catch up. But my cramps set me back. If such a situation crops up again, I might do even better. I hope we don't make the same mistakes again.
"I think my cramps hampered our innings. I might have been able to score 20-30 runs more if I hadn't cramped up."
With just 228 to play with, against a strong India batting line-up, not many would have given Bangladesh a chance, but after a poor start with the ball - India scored 68 for 1 in the first ten compared to Bangladesh's 39 for 5 - they kept things tight. Bangladesh were always behind, but the chase did get just a bit tricky, Shubman Gill's 101 not out eventually the difference.
"I did think we could fight with the runs we had. We bowled well and fought well. We gave away a few boundaries at the start, which didn't help, but we fought back well," Hridoy said. "If we had taken a couple more wickets at the start, the scenario could have been different."