Bangladesh players 'cried' after falling agonisingly short against India in T20 World Cup: 'Tragic, heartbreaking'

Bangladesh players couldn't bear losing to India in the T20 World Cup. Several players ended up crying inside the dressing room.

Who can forget the thrilling 2016 T20 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru? The contest, where India were behind for the majority of the game, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after Hardik Pandya bowled a thrilling final over while the likes of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim suffered a brain fade. In the final over, Bangladesh needed 11 runs, and the task was made all the easier after Rahim hit back-to-back boundaries on the second and third deliveries of Pandya's bowling.

Bangladesh players couldn't bear losing to India (AFP)

However, Pandya staged a remarkable comeback, dismissing Rahim and Mahmudullah on the next two deliveries, and the equation came down to 2 runs off the final ball.

Shuvagata Hom failed to connect on the final ball, and India captain MS Dhoni sprinted from behind to dislodge the bails. The replays were shown on the screen, and it was confirmed that the non-striker, Mustafizur Rahman, had failed to reach on time, and the OUT verdict flashed on the big screen, confirming India's victory by 1 run.

Ten years later, Mahmudullah looked back at the match, calling it “tragic and heartbreaking”, revealing that the players broke down inside the dressing room as they were unable to understand how exactly the Bangla Tigers lost the match. He also said that his ploy of wanting to hit a boundary to seal the match was “dumb” when the job could have been done by rotating the strike.

“I do not know what happened in that game against India. That was tragic. It was very heartbreaking. I think it was extremely heartbreaking. We cried on the ground. When we got back to the hotel, we cried. Me, Mushfiqur Rahim, we all cried. Many other members were crying as well because we were so close to beating India,” Mahmudullah said in a podcast, according to Cricbuzz.

“But personally, in my life, that was a very life-changing lesson for me. You drag it to the last ball and you finish it off. At that particular moment, I was thinking that if we just hit one boundary, we would win. To be honest, that was dumb,” he added.

What happened in the match?

The match between India and Bangladesh was a must-win for the former after it lost to New Zealand in Nagpur. Batting first, the Men in Blue posted 146/7 in 20 overs, with the highest score being 30 by Suresh Raina.

For the entire chase, Bangladesh kept up with the asking rate of almost 7.5 runs per over. However, fate had other plans as Hardik and Ashish Nehra managed to hold their own in the death overs.

To make matters worse for Bangladesh, experienced batters Rahim and Mahmudullah chased the glory shot rather than going about their business. One can also not forget how Rahim started celebrating after hitting back-to-back fours of Pandya's bowling when the victory wasn't sealed.

In the 2016 T20 World Cup, India reached the semi-finals, only to fall short against eventual winners West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.