Tigers end year on a high

A career-best 72 not out off 41 balls from Jaker Ali catapulted Bangladesh to a commanding 80-run win over West Indies in the third and final T20I in St Vincent yesterday, a victory that confirmed the Tiger’s maiden 3-0 clean-sweep over the Caribbean side in the shortest format.

After suffering a 3-0 bashing in the preceding ODI series, hardly anyone expected the Tigers to turn things around in the T20Is with a relatively inexperienced side with some players missing out due to injuries and seniors like Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah having recently retired from the format.

Apart from that, their performance in the shortest format this year leading up to the series had not been satisfactory with series defeats against Sri Lanka, India and even the USA. Their only series win this year came against Zimbabwe on home soil.

This was a steep drop off for the Tigers in T20Is compared to how they had performed in 2023, where they had won 10 and lost three out of 14 T20Is.

Before the West Indies T20Is, Bangladesh’s best result in this format this year was them qualifying for the Super Eights of the ICC T20 World Cup for the first time in 17 years in June, a tournament that was jointly held in the Caribbean and the USA.

But the Tigers perhaps reserved their best for the end of the year, completing a dominating 3-0 sweep over the hosts after not having won a single T20I against the side since December 2018.

Jaker showcasing his abilities as a finisher, Shamim Hossain rising to the occasion after a hiatus and the bowling attack looking clinical in all three matches orchestrated the splendid series win.

Although the Tigers ended 2024 on a high, their performance this year across the formats has been a mixed bag.

This series win has improved Bangladesh’s T20 statistics as they finished the year with a win percentage of 50 (12 wins in 24 matches) – which is better than their win percentage in Tests (30) and ODIs (33.33).

A number of players from the new generation stepped up in the recently-concluded series and it will be interesting to see whether they can carry this form into the next year or will it remain as a one-off.