Mashrafe Mortaza defends Shakib over dropped catch

Dhaka, 25 February। Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has leapt to the defence of Shakib Al Hasan after the all-rounder dropped Rohit Sharma who gleefully took the match away from the hosts in the opening Asia Cup tie.

Rohit led India to a convincing 45-run victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Wednesday.

The opener stroked a match-winning 83 off 55 balls but when on 21, he saw Shakib fluff a straightforward chance at point in the 11th over of the game.

Bangladesh paid a steep price for it as Sharma put the reprieve to good use and hammered 62 runs off the next 27 balls he faced.

But the Bangladesh skipper thinks such mistakes are part of the game.

"Dropping catches is part of a match. It can happen to anybody. There is nothing much really to be done about it," Mortaza was quoted as saying by bdnews24.com on Thursday.

Usually Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain - two of the best fielders in the team - field at point, not Shakib.

But Sabbir was at the boundary while Nasir had been left out of the playing eleven.

"The best fielders need to be stationed at important positions towards the end. They are placed near the boundaries at that time. Shakib was at point then because the pacers were bowling," Mortaza explained.

"Shakib is not only a good batsman or a great bowler, but he is also one of our best fielders. He always fields well. He has taken many good catches before …but it (dropping catches) can happen in a match."

Bangladesh next lock horns with United Arab Emirates on Friday.