With the T20 World Cup knocking at the door, the Bangladesh national team is dealing with a top-order crisis, as Liton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto are experiencing a slump in form, and they only have five matches before the global showdown begins.
While the Zimbabwe series is part of the ICC鈥檚 Future Tours Programme, it was considered an opportunity for the Tigers to test their mettle before travelling to the United States, where they will face the hosts in a three-match series before their first two World Cup matches.
In these three matches, though, their top-order has only added to their list of potential troubles in T20Is鈥攁 format in which they have struggled repeatedly.
Liton, Bangladesh鈥檚 best T20 batter for the past two years, has lost his touch and, more concerningly, appears to have lost his connection to the force, though it could be argued that he has never truly found it in his international career, which spans nearly a decade, with a few exceptions.
His problems in the format were probably best exemplified when he was bowled while attempting to scoop pacer Blessing Muzarabani in the third T20I against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
Liton attempted to scoop the Zimbabwean pacer three times in an effort to emulate Robert Bruce, the famous monarch of endurance. However, unlike Bruce, Liton did not have any luck, being beaten in the first two attempts and losing his stump when he finally connected.
That dismissal鈥攖he latest in a long line of eerie dismissals in Liton鈥檚 career鈥攂rought the end to a 15-ball 12-run knock, taking his run tally for 2024 to 79 in six innings with a strike rate of 97.53.
Bangladesh鈥檚 worries, though, don鈥檛 end there. If Liton is dismissed early, skipper Shanto walks in, and his stats do not paint a pretty picture either.
Since the start of 2023, 25 captains 鈥� from the 20 nations that will be at the forthcoming World Cup 鈥� have scored more than 100 runs in T20Is, and among them, Shanto sits second-lowest in terms of strike rate [110.86].
Since the start of the last T20 World Cup 鈥� considered the turning point of Shanto鈥檚 career in the format 鈥� there have been 254 batters who have scored more than 200 runs and batted in more than 10 innings.
Among those 254 batters, Shanto ranks 170th in strike rate, meaning he is not even in the top half.
With Liton struggling, Bangladesh need their number three to score regularly and quicker as he often comes at the crease early on, but Shanto 鈥� in the three innings this series 鈥� has scored only 43 runs, and that too playing 43 balls.
Shanto had expressed little concern about the strike rate ahead of the series, but he did not shy away from saying that it was a facet where they needed improvement.
鈥業鈥檓 not concerned about the strike rate. Not concerned because we need to perform together as a team, we need contributions from everyone,鈥� he said.
鈥楽o, if everyone can contribute according to their role, then I don鈥檛 think the strike rate will be an issue. However, we need to improve on this if we want to become a better team in the future.鈥�
The headache is only growing for Bangladesh because of their other two top-order options 鈥� Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan Tamim. The former has just returned from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for more than six weeks, and the latter debuted in the ongoing series.
Tanzid scored fifty on his debut but struggled in the following two games, and his fifty featured three dropped catches, all of which were regulation.
With Liton and Shanto out of touch, Bangladesh face a major dilemma at the top, and if they don鈥檛 find a solution soon, it will simply add to their litany of T20 World Cup failures, cementing their recurring struggles in the format.
