Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy: Winning is Always the Priority, Run Rate Secondary in Asia Cup

Bangladesh middle-order batter Towhid Hridoy insisted that his side were more focussed on ensuring a win against Hong Kong rather than playing some risky shots with the possibility of losing their way in the run-chase.

Ahead of their tournament opener against Hong Kong, run rate turned into a topic of discussion following Afghanistan's 94-run triumph over Hong Kong. With Sri Lanka also in the mix, run-rate could prove to be a crucial factor in case three teams find themselves level on points at the end of the group stage.

Following their opening game, Bangladesh is behind Afghanistan on net run rate, by 3.699 points to be precise after their seven-wicket winover Hong Kong with 14 balls to spare, chasing 144. Hridoy scored 35 off 36 deliveries, with just one boundary to his name but stayed at the crease while Litton Das did the heavy lifting.

"We could have finished the game earlier but we stuck to the demand of the situation. Our mentality is to always win," said Hridoy. "We wanted to ensure that the match doesn't slip away from us. We tried to end the game early but I couldn't connect the ball that well. I think the result is more important than finishing one or two overs earlier.

"We want to beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, so run-rate isn't what we are worried about at this stage. We don't want to complicate matters so early in the tournament," he said.

"I think we played smart cricket. We could have finished two or three overs earlier, but we could have lost one or two more wickets. We must prioritize partnerships. We tried to hit more boundaries, but it didn't happen," he said.

Hridoy added that playing against teams like Hong Kong can turn out to be a tricky affair as they are not very well known faces.

"Anything can happen in T20 cricket. Hong Kong China or whichever team, they can become big on the day. We treat every team the same whenever we are at the ground.

"It was a bit tricky. The ball was gripping. We are not used to playing in this type of wicket but we adapted well and that too against a team that we are not very familiar with," he said.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong skipper Yasim Murtaza said that they were 20 to 30 runs short.

"We were 20 to 30 runs short," said Murtaza. "I am happy with the batters but would have been happier if one of them got 60 to 70 runs as that would have got us [to] a big total."

"They got a good partnership and took the game away from us," he concluded.