3 key factors that sink Bangladesh T20 WC campaign

 

Live Correspondent: Given their performance in this format, no one expected Bangladesh would make the semifinal in this T20 World Cup. And indeed there was no point in thinking of the semifinal when they came to this world cup with just one victory in the main round in the last seven editions.

But the preparation of Bangladesh was good enough. They played a tri-nation series in New Zealand just ahead of the World Cup. Even though they lost all of the matches, they coped with the condition very well, which the players admitted before kick-starting their World Cup campaign.

The added bonus was the form of captain Shakib Al Hasan who hit back-to-back half-century against New Zealand and Pakistan in the tri-nation series.

So there was a slim expectation that Bangladesh could do something good, especially breaking the jinx of beating a top team since the 2021 T20 World Cup was a top agenda. But finally, they couldn’t do that.

They had two wins against Netherlands and Zimbabwe in the first three matches of the World Cup. There was a good vibe that they could snatch and win a match at least once against India and Pakistan. They came close to beating both of the subcontinent giants but in the end, they just couldn’t seal the deal.

On paper, though it is Bangladesh's best World Cup performance, in reality, said, the Tigers were not actually good enough. When some decisions went against them, they also had a lot of loopholes that should be plugged in if they want to be a force to reckon with in this format.

According to cricket experts and team management, three reasons were key to Bangladesh’s downfall-- middle order’s substandard performance, captain Shakib Al Hasan’s own form, and finally some bad decisions by umpires.

But there is one takeaway and that’s the bowling performance of the team led by Taskin Ahmed, which kept Bangladesh alive till the last moment of the group encounters.

“We were improving in every match but what ailed us was that our middle order couldn’t play to their potential,” said Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon.

“In the opening position, Najmul Hossain Shanto gave us two half-centuries (71 and 54) when his inclusion in the team was widely criticized. I don’t know why people talked negatively about him! He is an immensely gifted player and he proved his worth. Liton also played well.”

As the only senior player, captain Shakib Al Hasan had a lot of onus but he failed to deliver big time. He scored just 44 runs in five matches and took six wickets at an average of 27.83 and an economy rate of 8.78. This was not a performance that was expected from the No.1 allrounder of this format.

His dismissal against Pakistan was controversial. He indeed was dismissed due to the big error of the third umpire—a decision that everyone criticized but the question raised what he could do even if he survived through video review. The team’s middle order was so shaky that they lost the last seven wickets for 53 runs after Shakib’s dismissal.

“Shakib’s performance was disappointing. If he could play to the expectation, we could have bowed with a better result,” said cricket expert Najmul Abedin Fahim.

Bangladesh lost the game to India by five runs through the DLS method. But according to Bangladesh vice-captain Nurul Hasan Sohan, their team should get five penalty runs due to the fake throw of Virat Kohli.

Also, there was the allegation that the umpire and match referee started the game before the ground was dried up adequately. But ideally wet ground should be harmful to the fielding side not to the batting side.

After the rain break, Bangladesh needed 85 runs off 54 balls with all 10 wickets at hand but they collapsed and eventually lost the game by five runs. Captain Shakib Al Hasan blamed their panicking and lack of experience for the defeat and he even couldn’t blame any umpiring error or fake throw for the defeat.

“We can discuss with umpires any decisions but if they give their decision, there is not much that we can do. The match result will not be changed even if we complain about it,” team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon said.

Dhaka, 08 November (campuslive24.com)//BL

---

---