Imrul points to limited preparation after Asiad exit

Former Bangladesh batter and U-19 batting coach Imrul Kayes pointed to the team’s lack of preparation and limited time to adapt to the conditions after Bangladesh returned from the Asian Games without a cricket medal.

Bangladesh’s campaign ended in disappointment as they suffered a 63-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the bronze-medal match, having earlier lost to Pakistan in the semi-final.

Reflecting on the campaign after the defeat, Imrul said the team barely had enough time to prepare and acclimatise after players arrived from different places.

“Given the conditions, we hardly had any time, but at least we managed to train for a day. We were able to adjust ourselves a little to the weather here. I think that practice was very important for our team,” Imrul said.

“Everyone has come from different places, and everyone is very confident and serious about getting a good result. I hope, InshaAllah, we can achieve a good result from this tournament.”

Bangladesh had been hoping to challenge for gold after winning the title at the 2010 Asian Games and taking bronze in 2014 and 2023.

However, their hopes ended with back-to-back defeats in the knockout stage, leaving the men’s team without a single medal in the competition.

The bronze-medal defeat also marked Bangladesh’s first medal-less Asian Games cricket campaign since the sport was introduced to the Games in 2010.