For Bangladesh Cricket, 2021 has been a year to forget. From getting defeated at home in tests by a comparatively young West Indies, to having lost the highest number of matches in T20 World Cup 2021 (6), Bangladesh cricket suffered it all.
The failures of the Bangladesh team in 2021 can be compared with the ones in 2014.
After a disappointing 2014, Bangladesh had the best year in their cricketing history in the next year.
And after a very similar 2021, the fans will be looking forward to a similar turnaround.
Though the ultimate glory cannot be achieved within a year even after improvements in every sector, there are a few new year resolutions for Bangladesh cricket that can start the process of a turnaround in 2022 effectively.
New year, new strategies for selecting the XI
There are players who lag behind in particular situations. For example, Shadman Islam has not been converting his slow starts in Test matches into big and effective innings, unlike the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.
For the limited over games, a bowler like Shoriful Islam is more of a 'thinker' and can turn things around even after getting hit for runs, while an 'under pressure' Saifuddin is always under pressure.
In T20Is, batters like Naim Sheikh have a good average, but their slow starts in the powerplays keep the team a step behind the opponents by default in most of the games.
These factors across the formats can silently decide the result of the game, and of course, the fate of a team.
Some players have the ability to become 'X factors' in particular formats. For example, Aminul Islam, the leg-spinner has shown his impact against good teams in T20Is. In Tests, Yasir Ali has the potential to add more stability in the middle order with his impressive temperament. These players should be counted on more.
Introduce 'fearlessness' in batting
Bangladesh is scheduled to play a big number of ODIs and T20Is in 2022. In the away tours and big tournaments of recent times in the two formats, a more conventional style of batting of the Bangladeshi standard has been a problem.
In ODIs and T20Is, 300+ and 160+ scores have become a common scenario respectively.
Bangladesh's brand of cricket, where the par score in ODIs is around 250, and 140 in T20Is, needs an update.
The former Bangladesh coach and newly recruited batting consultant, Jamie Siddons has to work with the batters, especially the youngsters to achieve this objective in 2022.
Change the 'spin strategy'
One of the less talked about problems among the Bangladeshi bowlers is the low number of flighted deliveries, especially in Tests.
In the Test series against Sri Lanka in 2021, the difference between the number of flighted deliveries extracting more turn and bounce bowled by the Sri Lankan spinners and the Bangladeshi spinners was clear, so was the effect.
Praveen Jayawickrama and Ramesh Mendis combinedly picked up 17 wickets in 1 match.
Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan picked up 12 wickets in 2 matches combinedly. Rangana Herath must work with the spinners to increase their frequency of flighted deliveries to extract more bounce and turn.
Use of the 'long awaited' sporting pitches
The BPL 2022 is about to kick off in January. Bangladesh will be hosting Afghanistan, Ireland and India in 2022 for a good number of white-ball matches.
The frequent use of rank turners can potentially keep the abilities of the batters at a limit in the mentioned tournaments, which leads to the batters suffering in away tours and international tournaments.
The T20 World Cup 2021 is a good example to explain the scenario and the fans won't like a similar result in the next edition of the tournament in 2022.
Invest in the youngsters and fit players
Bangladesh has produced a bunch of talented youngsters over the recent years. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Parvez Emon, Rakibul Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Nayeem Hasan and some other cricketers are expected to do great things for the team in the near future.
Most of them have the potential to give something to the team for more than a decade, but only talent or potential cannot define the outcome from a player.
The team needs to use them according to their specialities with proper grooming under good coaches. The HP team management should work dedicatedly with a number of such cricketers.
