Shakib’s misplaced aggression

GBNEWS24DESK//

The way Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan handled questions related to tactics in the pre-match press conference today — ahead of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup opener against the Netherlands tomorrow — became a testament to the notion that the Tigers have miles to go before they become a formidable side in T20s.

While teams all over the world allow their most in-form batter to play the maximum deliveries, Shakib became ultra-defensive when asked if Bangladesh are open to the prospect of Liton Das opening the batting.

“Do you think we will win the match if Liton opens the innings,” Shakib countered with a passive-aggressive reply.

As white-ball cricket, especially the T20 version, keeps establishing itself as a batter-friendly game, it’s obvious that failing to find a stable opening batting pair has been a continuous source of headache for Bangladesh. Heading into the ongoing mega event, the Tigers tinkered with four different opening combinations in as many games in the tri-series against Pakistan and hosts New Zealand.

Quite surprisingly, no games in the tri-series featured Liton as an opener, who has been the leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in 2022 as the stylish right-hander scored 417 runs in 14 T20I innings this year, with an impressive strike rate of 139.46. And of those 14 outings, Liton opened in five games and scored 155 with an even better strike rate of 150.5 — all of which happened in July this year, against the West Indies at home and Zimbabwe away.

When a few of Liton’s impressive outings this year as an opener were brought forward, coupled with the fact that none of the batters tested at the top could perform, the Bangladesh skipper’s reply was also uncalled for.

“You should be in the position of the decision maker, given the way you are saying,” replied Shakib with his signature smirk, and the Bangladesh skipper did not end up addressing the question on cricketing terms.