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Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, the two most well-known cricket players in Bangladesh, were dissatisfied with the team’s lack of effort against India in their T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight match in Antigua.
When Shakib reached the crease in the 12th over, Bangladesh needed 121 runs at a rate of 14.23 per over. He made 11 off seven balls. He bemoaned the team’s lack of effort throughout the tournament’s crucial stages, when they scored poorly against Australia and India (140 for 8 and 146 for 8 respectively). Despite batting on grounds that appear to be easier than most in this tournament—the Antigua pitches—the Bangladesh top order’s persistently bad form hasn’t improved. According to Shakib, they were unable to even demonstrate that they intended to chase India’s 196 runs in this match.
“We have a 50 percent win rate in this World Cup but if we had fought against India and Australia the way we fought against South Africa, we could have called it a good World Cup campaign,” Shakib said. “We are short of runs as a batting unit. We made 140 in the last game, 146 today. We should have done better today since we had a target in front of us. We couldn’t even show it to people that we were trying [to chase the target] today. I don’t think the confidence was there. We have lacked in this area throughout the World Cup.
“You have to bring your A-game against teams like Australia and India. I think we lacked in skill and strength. We couldn’t do the basics for longer periods to create pressure. Throughout this World Cup, I don’t think we justified ourselves as a batting unit. We are capable of scoring big runs. We were well short of par scores like 175-185 in the last two games, both played on good wickets. Maybe India scored 20 more runs today but we have to show the intent from the start of the innings. I don’t think it was there.”
Tamim, in his capacity as an expert for ESPNcricinfo, said after the match that Bangladesh’s lack of intent with the bat surprised him against India. “[Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh’s captain] said that he should have finished the game but Bangladesh never got close in this contest. I didn’t understand why he would say that. Bangladesh’s batting has disappointed in this whole tournament. The think-tank really needs to think about how they will go from here on.”
Tamim went on to say that the Bangladeshi batsmen haven’t been exposed to quality batting wickets for a long time. He claimed that because they play the most of their cricket on slow, low surfaces at home, they are unprepared for good conditions when they compete in ICC competitions.
“Bangladesh [usually] play in difficult wicket for batters. They also can’t start scoring runs freely when you put them in a very good wicket. You need to know how to score runs even on a good wicket. You need to know your limitations on which shots to play. I think there should be a long-term plan where Bangladesh should play on good wickets. They don’t get it in Mirpur.”