All-rounder MehidyHasanMiraz believes Bangladesh could have done well in the Asia Cup if they could play the whole tournament without any injury issue.
"The result could have been different had we fielded a full strength team from the beginning. We hope that all of the players will recover from the injury and we'll go to the world Cup with good mindset," Miraz said after Bangladesh team arrived at HazratShahjalal International Airport on Saturday from Colombo.
Bangladesh team's balance was disrupted when they had to leave the country for Asia Cup without Liton Das who suffered from a viral fever. With Tamim Iqbal already being ruled out of the tournament, Bangladesh had to field a new opening pair. Thereafter though Liton joined the team, Najmul Hossain Shanto, the most inform batter of the side got injured and returned to the country.
Mushfiqur Rahim, another inform batter, later had to skip the last match against India as he got the extension of leave to be with his wife and new born daughter.
"Tamim Iqbal was not with the team while Liton suffered from illness suddenly. Shanto was the most inform batter but he too got injured during the tournament. Overall the situation was not favourable for us," Miraz explained.
Bangladesh however made an exit to the tournament with two victories. They beat Afghanistan in the group phase and then edged past India by six runs in the last match of the Super Four phase, when their hopes of final was over.Still Miraz hoped that the win against India would give them a mental boost ahead of the World Cup.
"Yes, there was no hope for us to play the final, still we wanted to win the game against India. We knew if we can beat India, it would give us the mental boost for the World Cup. The World Cup is a big event and it will be held in India. So we needed the mental spirit which we got after beating India," he said.But Bangladesh had the things to savour as they got two talented young players in - TowhidHridoy and TanzimHasanSakib who both put their hands up in the match against India alongside captain Shakib Al Hasan.
Since his debut, Hridoy was playing well but Asia Cup was a big stage for him to show his credential and he demonstrated his skill, hitting two half-centuries. TanzimSakib meanwhile made a debut against India and took two wickets including Rohit Sharma.
"There were many positive things. Young players played well in this tournament. Hridoy further showed his credential and Sakib made a debut to remember. Lower order batters also got runs against India. So we left the tournament with a good note," he added.
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