Bangladesh, after two consecutive finals, have been knocked out of the group stage of the Asia Cup.
It was not a surprise, and neither was it what Bangladesh hoped for. But nobody expected the Tigers to change overnight from their dire form. And at least, their clash against Sri Lanka showed that they can actually become a decent T20 side.
While there are issues to be solved, there must be discussions about what the team did right.
First of all, the opening pair was improvised, but they showed one thing the other openers were missing- intent. Sabbir Rahman hit a scoop on his first delivery back in international cricket after three years, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s only goal in the middle was to score as much as he can.
And then there were Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain. They finally debunked the ‘you need muscle power to do power-hitting' with a fine display. Afif scored 39 off 22 deliveries, just based on timing, and then Mosaddek scored 24 off nine deliveries to take Bangladesh to their highest T20I total in UAE.
Now, the negatives. The death bowling was lacklustre once again as Ebadot Hossain saw both sides of the coin on his T20I debut, but the main fault must go to Mushfiqur Rahim.
He dropped Kusal Mendis, who played the match-winning knock of 60 runs, on two, then did not allow skipper Shakib Al Hasan to take a review because he did not hear anything, despite being closest to the edge.
And then there’s his batting. He failed in both matches, and his approach cannot be allowed in a modern T20 team.
And so is the case for Mahmudullah Riyad. He scored 27 off 22 deliveries on a pitch that was a batting paradise and he has been doing this for some time now.
Bangladesh have some obvious solutions waiting in line for them, but the question is whether they would pick them.
Bangladesh Cricket Board can easily drop Mushfiq and Mahmudullah to facilitate Yasir Ali Rabbi and Nurul Hasan Sohan. Along with them, Liton Das will be back. What does the batting order become then?
Liton, Sabbir, Shakib, Afif, Yasir, Mosaddek, and Sohan. That looks like a batting group that can only depend on timing to achieve 160+ scores on a regular basis.
While Shakib’s batting is a legitimate concern as his recent bat swings often looked like from a tailender, he is a better fit for number three than seven. Because if Shakib plays at number three and plays slowly, there is time for that damage to be recovered, which is impossible when he is playing at number seven.
Yes, Bangladesh need better death bowlers for the T20 World Cup, but they must drop Mushfiq and Mahmudullah first. Because when the scores are regularly under-par, bowlers are demotivated, and with them in the XI, it’s difficult to allow the team’s best batters to play as many balls as possible.
Along with all that, Bangladesh need to get better at controlling their emotions, as captain Shakib inferred in the post-match press conference.
“We are very emotional. That is another area we need to improve. We need to keep our emotions on the side and play the way we need to. We need to play more with our head rather than our heart,” the Bangladesh skipper said.
All in all, Bangladesh have a way out of their rut. Whether they will take it is the question.
