Mahmudullah Riyad says Bangladesh need to move after loss vs Afghanistan

Dubai: After losing against Afghanistan in the T20I tri-nation series match, Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad said on Friday that the team 'needs to focus' on the remaining matches of the series.

"We need to focus on our next match. They are ranked higher than us, and we need to keep that in mind," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Mahmudullah as saying.

"In recent times, the results are not going our way. We lost the Test match, lost to Sri Lanka, and the last T20 match too. Our next step will be to continue the dominance and put up a same or even better performance to win against Afghanistan, which would give us more confidence and help us have a morale boost ahead of the final," he added.

Bangladesh recently lost to Afghanistan in the one-off Test at Chittagong by 224 runs. In the tri-nation series against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, Bangladesh won both games against Zimbabwe but faced a defeat at the hands of Afghanistan.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said the side is capable of skill-hitting as they lack players like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell who are able to score runs on a higher pace.

"I think we are more capable in skill-hitting rather than power-hitting. We could utilise the power only when we are set in the crease. There is no Chris Gayle and Andre Russell in Bangladesh team. We are more focused on skill-hitting," Mahmudullah said.

Bangladesh will play against Afghanistan in the next encounter of the T20I tri-nation series at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.