Asia Cup 2025 | ‘Dropped catches and bad decisions cost us’: Phil Simmons

Phil Simmons

Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons blamed dropped catches and bad shot-selection for the team's defeat to Pakistan, which ended its hopes for an Asia Cup final berth.

Having Pakistan reeling at 51-5, Bangladesh let the game slip when they dropped Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz, both of whom went on to play crucial cameos here on Thursday.

Afridi struck two sixes in a 13-ball 19, while Nawaz's brisk 25 off 15 balls (two sixes, one four) lifted Pakistan to a fighting 135-8. "When we dropped Shaheen and Nawaz, that's where the game changed," Simmons said at the post-mach press conference. Before that, we were in control. Some of the catches maybe [had something to do with the lights] but I don't think the ones we dropped had anything to do with the lights," he said, referring to Dubai's famous "ring of fire" lighting system, under which fielders often struggle to sight the ball.

At the halfway mark, Bangladesh appeared well-placed to chase down the modest target, but their batters faltered with a string of poor shots.

"It was just bad decisions. All of the teams have that at some point. It was us today. We didn't make the best shot selections," Simmons said bluntly.

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