Bangladesh captain Litton Das offered little self criticism after his side's Asian Games semi-final defeat to Pakistan, instead pointing to the pitch, the toss and a lack of practice as the match slipped away at Korogi Sports Park on Thursday.

Asked why he persisted with Mustafizur Rahman for a second over after the pacer had leaked 18 runs in his first, Litton pushed back on the suggestion it was a mistake.

"Mustafiz seemed like the best option to me, so I used him. If you feel another option is best, you can use him," he said.

Pressed on why spinners were not preferred instead, despite Pakistan's own spin attack proving far more effective across the 13 over contest in Nagoya, Litton turned the question back on the reporter.

"If Mustafiz had taken three wickets today, you would not have asked this question," he said.

Mustafiz finished with figures of 41 runs from two overs, the spell that effectively decided the match, though Litton defended his long serving bowler.

"He has been the best bowler in our team for many years. This happens in cricket, there will be ups and downs," he said.

The captain pointed instead to Bangladesh's middle overs bowling as the bigger issue.

"I think if we could have bowled a little better in the middle overs, if we had conceded fewer sixes, we would have had a better chance," he said, rather than singling out Mustafiz alone.

On his side's sluggish batting start, in which Bangladesh slipped to 21 for three, Litton cited days spent indoors without practice due to rain, and losing the toss, as reasons the top order had struggled to read conditions early in the innings.

"The wicket had been covered for a long time. We had not watched any games and had no opportunity to practise on it. We played without any idea in the first few overs, then gradually the batters got an idea," he said.

Litton did credit Towhid Hridoy, whose 42 from 25 balls alongside Mosaddek Hossain had rescued Bangladesh from early trouble.

"Credit goes to Hridoy for bringing our team back. The partnership between Mosaddek and Hridoy was very good," he said.

He acknowledged the broader disappointment of falling short of gold again. Bangladesh won gold in 2010, silver in 2014, and bronze in 2023 after beating Pakistan in that year's play off.

"When we left the country, we said we wanted to play in the final. So it is natural to be disappointed," he said.

The bronze medal match is still to come, against the loser of the India versus Sri Lanka semi-final, with Bangladesh set to play on in pursuit of at least one medal from the tournament.