Bangladesh cricket team has never achieved anything close to success in the shortest format, and one reason behind their failure is that they can't hit big.
When the T20 format first rolled out, Bangladesh were one of the contenders to be great in it, mainly because of their win over West Indies in their first match of the 2007 World T20.
But since then, they have failed. And with the game becoming increasingly sophisticated with each team finding new ways to revolutionise the format every other day, they have fallen behind more and more.
Nowadays, T20 has become about starting fast and only going faster. Or, as some teams do, start steady, and go ballistic in the final half. But one thing lies in the essence of those tactics, score big.
Bangladesh can do neither. Since the start of 2021, Bangladesh have used eight openers. Mohammad Naim has played 26 innings, while Liton Das has played 14, opening the innings. Soumya Sarkar has nine, and Saif Hassan has two.
Among the eight openers, the highest strike rate belongs to Soumya, with 107.74, while Naim's strike rate is 100.
Despite these eight players having 54 innings, they have hit only 18 sixes.
It's no different in the middle order (3-7), either. Eight batsmen have played in those positions since the start of 2021, and none have a strike rate over 120.
Shakib Al Hasan bats at 108.16, Mahmudullah at 105.30, and Mushfiqur Rahim at an incredible 89.39. The highest among the players currently in the national team belongs to Afif Hossain, with 116.41.
These batsmen have a combined 120 innings but have only hit 51 sixes, which is less than one per two matches.
While there are talks that power-hitting is more about skill rather than muscle power, it seems that the Bangladesh players have forgotten it.
"We are Bangladeshis. None of us are power hitters. We can't play like Andre Russell or Kieron Pollard. But we have to make improvements according to our abilities. Sri Lanka have power hitters. If we can make the most of our abilities, we can become better than Sri Lanka," Bangladesh all-rounder Shak Mahedi Hasan said before their Zimbabwe tour.
But veteran coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who has coached the likes of Shakib, Mushfiq, and Mominul Haque, believes the problem is not that the Bangladeshi batters are incompetent power-hitters but that they don't play with the freedom required.
"We do have power. But we didn't know how to apply that power. We have had a mental barrier that we cannot, and thus we never tried properly. When you think you can't do it, you will not even try to do it," Fahim told The Financial Express in an interview.
But Fahim thinks it has changed as he worked with a few players for a brief period before they left for the Asia Cup.
"The barrier has been broken a bit, and thus some are trying to hit big. And when they are trying, they realise that it is possible. So, the thinking is changing that we actually are able of big-hitting. I'm not sure how it would be in competitive cricket, but I believe it will be better," the veteran coach added.
One of Bangladesh's most significant issues besides the lack of sixes is the number of dot balls played in an innings, which is often very high.
Fahim thinks that only reducing dot balls will matter little if the six-hitting ability cannot be improved.
"Both (six-hitting and reducing the number of dot balls) are important. If we reduce dot balls but don't increase the number of sixes, it won't make up for anything. It's impossible to score on all the balls. There will be dot balls, but the percentage must come down. It will take time."
"That is why hitting more sixes is important. If the opposition hits 7-8 sixes and we hit two, then nothing can be done to cover it up. If the opponent hits eight sixes, we must hit at least six. Then, we can make up for the rest by reducing dot deliveries," Fahim explained.
Bangladesh national team's technical consultant for T20Is, Sridharan Sriram, believes that the power-hitting ability exists among the Bangladesh batters.
"I think it is definitely there. We have to give them the freedom to play. Ability-wise there's no doubt that Bangladesh has the ability to do it. But it is about going out there, and getting the confidence. Keep expressing themselves, keep doing the job," he said in a press conference on Monday.
Bangladesh are looking to change things around from the Asia Cup. And if they do, they might start trying to hit more and bigger. Or else, any change in fortune may be unlikely.
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