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Cricket News: 3 things Bangladesh must do to improve in T20Is | How Bangladesh can improve in T20Is after poor T20 World Cup

Bangladesh endured a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign and crashed out of the tournament without registering a single victory in the Group 12 stage.

After defeat to Scotland, the Bangla Tigers found themselves in the ‘group of death’, and qualifying to the Semi Finals was never a realistic proposition.

However, the manner of their defeat was more startling, considering that the Mahmudullah Riyad-led side hardly put up even a fight against their more fancied opponents.

However, it needs to be noted that Bangladesh has never been a threat to reckon with in the shortest format of the game. Their recent series victories against the likes of Australia and New Zealand at home in favourable pitches perhaps painted an incorrect picture of their true abilities.

In this article, we briefly take a look at ways through which the team can make some progress in T20 internationals.

How Bangladesh can improve in T20Is:

1. Reduce dependence on the senior pros

Bangladeshi cricket for the last decade and half has perhaps been defined by the presence and performances of the fab four of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. All four have been pillars of the country’s cricketing landscape and have led the national team at some point or the other.

However, the T20 game is changing dynamically and hence the four of them (including Tamim who was unavailable) cannot always be relied upon to deliver the goods. Yes, Shakib is a terrific batter; perhaps the best in their batting unit. No one tackles spin better than Rahim and Mahmudullah can always provide the integral finishing touch. But there needs to be ample support from the other end.

There is a need for infusion of young batsmen who prove their mettle and also temperament to succeed at the highest stage. They should be adept with the developing demands of the format and also have enough match-practice against quality bowlers to not look out of place in the big games.

2. Not look at T20 cricket as a shortened version of ODI cricket

This is an issue that several teams are struggling to cope with. Though players across the world ply their trade in multiple T20 tournaments, some national teams still treat T20 cricket as a shortened version of the ODI game.

Bangladesh needs to get ahead of this misconceived notion and shape different plans, methodologies and perhaps even different sets of players for different formats of international cricket.

Their totals of 84 and 73 against South Africa and Australia doesn’t reflect well on a team that has consistently made brisk progress in international cricket. A more refined thought process and perception of both T20 and ODI cricket can help Bangladesh create separate roadmaps for both the formats and even allot their concerned resources for the same accordingly.  

3. Play quality teams on quality tracks

One would have assumed that Bangladesh would be more comfortable with this T20 World Cup considering that the pitches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would suit their style of play. They had also come on the back of series victories against New Zealand and Australia at home for that matter.

Bangladesh won more T20Is in 2021 than in any other calendar year since they began their journey in international cricket, but all of it failed to reflect in their dismal performances in the tournament.

And still their performances show that there is a massive room for improvement at the end of the day. The best way to begin with it would be to play against quality teams on quality tracks.

Even when they are playing at home, the pitches cannot be doctored to get an upper edge in that particular series. Such a process compromises long-term objectives for short-term gains and it hasn’t ever led a sporting side to success anywhere across the world.

The next tournament will be held in Australia. For that matter, Bangladesh has never played a T20I in Australia, ever! The board needs to get their schedules, roadmap and future tour programs right if they harbor any hope of attaining some sort of considerable success in the limited-overs game as a whole!

Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter