Last Updated on 5 months by Charbel Coorey
Bangladesh cricket was heavily criticised by fans and pundits in the aftermath of their exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. After Australia’s capitulation at the hands of Afghanistan and India, Bangladesh had the chance for a first-ever World Cup semi-finals appearance.
They needed to pull off a big enough win against the Afghans to overtake them and Australia on net run rate.
It wasn’t to be. But, it wasn’t because they tried their best and fell just short like Afghanistan in last year’s ODI Asia Cup. It was Bangladesh’s lack of desire to achieve the target that came in for criticism.
After restricting Afghanistan to 115, Bangladesh needed to chase the target in 12.1 overs to reach the semi-finals. It seemed they would have a red-hot go after a few big blows early, but they put the cue in the rack and focused only on winning the game after the loss of wickets, much to the frustration of fans.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s admission after the game was telling. “The plan was to try [to win in 12.1 overs] if we get a good start in the powerplay,” he said.
“We thought that if we don’t lose early wickets, we could take the chance [to go for the semi-finals]. When we lost three wickets, we had a different plan. We wanted to see how we could win the game. The middle-order didn’t take good enough decisions, which is why we lost the game today.”
It is a mindset that has plagued Bangladeshi cricket. A win after 12.1 overs would have resulted in elimination anyway, so the call to not go for the semi-finals target was baffling.
High-profile former players and pundits join fans in criticising Bangladesh cricket for lack of ambition
Mashrafe Mortaza, arguably Bangladesh’s greatest-ever captain, criticised the approach. In a Facebook post on his page, Mortaza said there should not have been any thought process other than 12.1 overs.
“Litton’s intent and the non-strikers’ silence suggests that there was no clear message for the batting unit,” Mortaza said. “Even if there was a message, it changed every one or two overs. It ended up with the decision to try to just win the game.
“Today should have been just about winning in 12.1 overs. There was no other way of thinking. Everyone would have understood if they got bowled out for 50. If we had won this game, we would have lost to our conscience. This was not like ten other matches. We could have made history today.”
ESPNcricinfo correspondent Mohammad Isam is usually quite calm. However, he has been quite vocal about Bangladesh’s shortcomings in recent times.
“Bangladesh will forever be defined as the team that refused to reach a World Cup semifinal,” he tweeted. He also took aim at the Bangladesh Cricket Board, stating nothing will be done to ensure the team’s progress in the future.
Isam also reposted a number of tweets criticising the Bangladesh cricket team. Here are some of the reactions to Bangladesh’s poor finish to the tournament, where they eventually lost to Afghanistan by eight runs.
Next up for Bangladesh on the calendar is a tour of India in September and October. It consists of two Tests in Chennai and Kanpur, followed by three T20Is. Given the way the Tigers are batting, it is difficult to see how they’ll enjoy success across the border.
