THE curtain of T-20 World Cup dropped on 29 June. India won the trophy by beating South Africa in a cliffhanger match. Now, we have to wait for two more years for the 10th session of T-20 in 2026 to be held in this subcontinent and to be organised by India and Sri Lanka jointly.
For Bangladesh, the 2024 T-20 World Cup cricket has been a story of swinging between hope and hopelessness. Bangladesh鈥檚 national cricket squad, fondly named Tigers, have failed to deliver the same notable performance in the super-eight encounters as they did perform brilliantly in the pre-super-eight matches. Team Bangladesh began the campaign in a very disappointing manner, conceding a series defeat against the underrated USA national cricket team in warm-up matches.
But as the T-20 World Cup first round matches got under way, the Bangladesh team successfully turned around and defeated Sri Lanka, the spirited Netherlands, and the emerging Nepal. Although our national squad conceded defeat against a highly-rated South Africa in the first round, they exhibited a very competitive performance against them that earned unmixed commendation from the cricket community.
Despite the fact that the Bangladesh national squad moved to the second round (super eight) with style, it was then a heartbreaking moment for Bangladeshi fans worldwide. Bangladesh suffered three consecutive defeats and missed a golden opportunity to move to the semi-final, which our top batting order simply squandered like a mindless child.
The lack of consistency is still a big problem for our national cricket team. When they deliver a superlative performance in a few matches, it is invariably followed by a shocking performance in the next round of matches. Our 2024 T-20 campaign started with a series defeat against the United Sates; it was, then, followed by a big lift with three wins and. then again. it was a nosedive as Bangladesh lost all three super-eight matches.
The following statistics corroborate the facts. It shows the percentage-wise winning of Bangladesh cricket team in T-20 matches in the last a few years: 2018 31.25 per cent, 2019 57.14 per cent, 2020 50 per cent, 2021 40.74 per cent, 2022 28.57 per cent, 2023 71.43 per cent and 2024 50 per cent. A consistent fluctuation in the performance of our national cricket team in T-20 encounters is noticeable. This trend must be reversed with appropriate cricket therapies by the coaching staff. The entire effort and enterprise should be directed to ensure a consistently better team performance.
It is said that a good teacher can make a big difference in the performance of a student. In sports and games as well, the appointed coaches make a big difference in the performance of the entire squad. Our national cricket squad is not living up to the expectations of their countrymen, even after playing for so many years. Bangladesh captain Nazmul Hossainh Shanto said after the shocking defeat against Afghanistan, 鈥楾he batting needs to improve. Our top-order didn鈥檛 perform well. We did not execute well with the bat and made a lot of wrong decisions.鈥� Now, if the top batting order of our squad consistently fail to deliver, the problems need to be fixed by none other than our coaches.Our coaching staff cannot avoid the responsibility for the ordinary performance of our squad in the super-eight of the 2024 T-20 World Cup. It is hoped that in the coming days things will improve radically in our batting line.
It is claimed that unlike other disciplines of games, the performance of a cricket team depends, to a large extent, on the timely but appropriate decisions of the team management and the captain both on and off the field. Media reported on the Bangladesh versus Afghanistan super-eight match from Antigua, noting that 鈥楤angladesh skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto said the team plan was, if they lost three wickets early, then they would try to just win the match, rather than have a go at the target within 12.1 overs in order to progress to the semis.鈥�
鈥楽uch a statement from the captain and planning from team management were shocking as Bangladesh had the chance to achieve something huge in their cricket history. But they just gave up meekly after losing three wickets within the first three overs. With eight batsmen in the side, giving up on semi-final chances after losing just three wickets was utterly frustrating.鈥�
Cricket analysts also raised some questions about team selection and the batting order of the Bangladesh squad. A lot of cricket enthusiasts have described the exclusion of Mehedi Hasan Miraz from the T-20 national squad as a big blunder. Miraz is identified as one of the best all-rounders in our team who is equally good at batting, bowling and fielding and also inspiring the team members in all conditions. Zaker Ali was selected as a regular player in the 11-member squad. Did he contribute so much to the team鈥檚 total score throughout the tournament? Then, had it been a wise decision to drop Taskin in the super-eight encounter against India? Against Afghanistan, our batting order should have been more creative. Some cricket analysts raised the question why Soumya Sarkar, who is a seasoned opener, had been relegated to the fourth position, behind Sakib Al Hasan. On the other hand, why had power striker Rishad Hussain not been brought forward before Mahamadullah went to the crease.
Planets revolve around the sun and, similarly, the entire contingent of a cricket team revolves around the captain. The captain鈥檚 creative and well-judged decisions can build the team or the lack of it can break the team. The team can earn much-wishing success or suffer least-wishing defeat. Against India, our captain handed the ball over to Mahedi Hasan, the off-spinner, in the very first over. Has it been an appropriate decision? Is it possible to contain the run-getting spree of Indian hard-hitters like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others by using the spinner in the very first over. Then, Sakib Al Hasan, our ace batter and bowler, was not tried even for a single over against Australia. It is said that this has been a tactical mistake because with Shakib鈥檚 few overs bowled, team Bangladesh might have made important breakthroughs against Australia. This opportunity should have been explored. So, it is pointed out that intelligent captaincy was needed to make a difference in the performance of our team and this may have been missing in our T-20 campaign.
Finally, the most important deficit that has been clearly visible in our national squad is its utter lack of winning spirit. In any battle, the fighting spirit of the forces is extremely important. Afghan players go all out and give their best to win the game. In the end, if they at all suffer defeat, they still remain happy. This very frame of mind is absent in our squad. In no way, Bangladeshi fans can accept the defeat against Afghanistan in the super-eight match because our brilliant bowlers did succeed in restricting them to only 115 runs. But what did our batters do in return? They just threw their wickets one after another. So, our players should cultivate a strong winning mentality and be determined to fight to the last and snatch the win without being overly tense about the fate of match. After all, people appreciate dignified defeat, not cowardly surrender. Again, our coaching staff have the important role to play here to fix the problem.
Cricket is the most popular game in the world after football. Only in cricket has Bangladesh earned a distinctive position in the global sports and games. The Bangladesh team will face a fully-loaded crickets schedule in the coming months and years. Three prestigious international cricket tournaments are to be played in the next three years like the Champions Trophy in 2025, the 10th T-20 World Cup in 2026 and the 14th ODI world Cup in 2027. In between, Bangladesh will have to play a lot of bilateral competitions. So, let us from our mistakes and take appropriate administrative and managerial decisions and ensure strong accountability and professionalism at every step. This will certainly improve our performance, thereby, preserving the dignity and prestige of our country and living up to the expectations of Bangladeshi cricket fans worldwide.
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M Ashiq is a former teacher of Scholastica and Sunbeams.
