Stakeholders in Bangladesh cricket need to do some serious introspection after the team’s disappointing performance in the World Cup.
Even though the team, which has lost five matches on the trot and has collected only two points from six outings, and has three matches left, skipper Shakib Al Hasan bluntly admitted that it was Bangladesh’s worst ever performance in the World Cup.
Following its humiliating 87-run defeat to the Netherlands, which came into the event through the qualifiers, Shakib did not make any effort to defend Bangladesh’s embarrassing run — a possible outcome of an undesirable cocktail factors, including the skipper’s fallout with former captain Tamim Iqbal prior to the tournament (which could have created groupism), the lack of ideal preparation, pressure due to high expectations, below par showing by most of the batters and some players’ reluctance to come out of their comfort zone.
“We are not this bad a team. It could be the World Cup or this atmosphere, high expectations. It could be a lot of other things. If we work on it, we might find the answers,” said Shakib.
Shakib pointed out some factors which impacted Bangladesh’s campaign. “As a batting unit, other than Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, we were very poor.”
Explaining why Mahmudullah, the centurion of the match against South Africa, was fielded at No. 7 against the Dutch, Shakib said, “We have a team of limitations in batting and bowling. We are not comfortable bowling or batting in different times and positions. We are not comfortable facing bowlers in certain times, so we have to adjust all the time. If our batters did well at the top, Riyad (Mahmudullah) and Mushfiq (Mushfiqur) could have performed their roles.
“I agree that maybe if Riyad bhai batted higher in the order, we could have done well.”
With some cricketers, including Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, stepping into the last phase of their long careers, Bangladesh’s cricket authorities would do well get to the root of the problem that prevented the team from performing up to its potential in the prestigious event and spot the next generation of players who could serve the side well.
