Lankans’ loss gives Tigers ‘ray of hope’

Back in 2007, Bangladesh’s journey in T20 World Cups had started with a bang with the Tigers notching up a convincing win over the West Indies in their opening match of the tournament in South Africa.

But eight editions in, that win over West Indies remains Bangladesh’s only victory over a higher-ranked team in the tournament, a fact that aches one of the chief architects of that victory: former captain Mohammad Ashraful.

“Comparing the way associate teams like the USA, Canada, Papua New Guinea have played, I feel that Bangladesh have regressed in T20s,” Ashraful told The Daily Star.

“We still don’t understand the rhythm of the format. Our only T20 tournament is the BPL [Bangladesh Premier League], which also is not up to standard. The associate teams mostly play T20 cricket and are quickly improving in the format,” he added.

Bangladesh are days away from starting their ninth edition of the T20 World Cup and their prospects aren’t looking too good.

The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side are heading into the tournament on the back of an embarrassing 2-1 series defeat against the USA last month and a 60-run defeat against India in a warm-up match.

The Tigers will begin their campaign on June 8 against Sri Lanka, who suffered a six-wicket defeat against South Africa on Monday.

Sri Lanka will be under pressure after losing the opener as another defeat will put their Super 8 qualification under serious threat.

But for the Tigers to capitalise on Sri Lanka’s vulnerability, they first have to snap out of their lean patch and play to their potential, feels Ashraful.

“The team is extremely short of confidence. They have not been able to play to their potential at all. Bangladesh’s lack of options has also become really apparent. We don’t have enough options in T20s. We are continuing with the same options from 2021-22, even though they haven’t clicked.

“Realistically, Bangladesh’s chances of progressing to the next phase are very slim. The only ray of hope for them is that Sri Lanka have lost their opening game, after losing to Netherlands in a warm-up match, and are under pressure. They have a chance to capitalise on that.”

Unlike most ICC events, where pitches are usually of a sporting nature, there have been a variety of pitches on display in the first few matches of the T20 World Cup.

Ashraful feels that teams cannot hope to play the same way in all pitches this time around, and senses that a few upsets may be on the horizon.

“The pitches this time around are not like the ones we usually see in ICC events. Teams can’t succeed playing typical T20 cricket — they will have to assess the pitch first and then play accordingly. It seems that ICC’s plans of using T20s to spread cricket around the world is working. The associates are showing great improvement in T20s. I expect to see a few upsets from the associates in the World Cup,” he concluded.