Mushfiq concerned about team\\\'s performance

Mushfiqur Rahim is deeply concerned about the Bangladesh team's poor performance in the home series against Sri Lanka, reports bdnews24.com.

The captain fears that if the poor showing continues the team might perform poorly even against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.

"We may be the runners-up of the last Asia Cup. But if we play in this fashion, we will have to suffer even against Afghanistan. We need to come out of this situation soon," Mushfiq said in the post-match press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Mushfiq identified a number of problems within the team for ending on a losing streak. "Numerous problems are appearing now. Many players are out of form. Batsmen are throwing away their wickets after getting set. Luck is also not in our favour. These are warning signs for us," he said.

Bangladesh won one-day series against both West Indies and New Zealand on home soil prior to this complete rout against Sri Lanka.

"Although we won those two series, even then we had committed some mistakes. We have to improve our catching, batting and bowling towards the end of the innings," he said after being thrashed 3-0 in the ODI series at home against Sri Lanka.

Mushfiq was feeling the absence of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal to the bones. Tamim was out of all three matches in the series due to a neck strain. And Shakib was absent due to his three-match ban for making an inappropriate gesture in the second ODI. The skipper himself apologized to everybody for Shakib's behaviour.

Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews accredited the bowlers and Kusal Perera for the easy victory in the third ODI.

"Bangladesh was 180 for four at one stage. Credit goes to the bowlers for restricting them under 250. Someone young had to come forward due to the absence of senior batsmen. Kusal did exactly that," he said.