A hot mess in white-ball cricket, Bangladesh ring the changes to find true potential

If there’s one word that perfectly encapsulates the goings-on in Bangladesh cricket, it is turbulence. Their government’s anti-corruption commission raided BCB’s headquarters, veterans Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad have walked into the sunset, and there are fresh faces occupying the roles ranging from T20 captain to fast-bowling mentor to fielding coach. Not that stability has ever been a forte of India’s cricketing neighbours, but this overhaul is in part a response to the alarming decline in Bangladesh’s white-ball performances. Their win-loss ratio in men’s multi-nation ODI events has been 4-12 since the 2019 World Cup – it was 10-13 in the previous four-year cycle – and their T20 approach is barely in sync with the demands of the modern game. The next two months offer a chance for course correction as Bangladesh travel to UAE, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for a heavy indulgence with the shortest format, the geopolitical situation permitting.

Between 2015 to 2019, Bangladesh won 7 out of the 19 matches they played against the top ten teams in global 50-over tournaments, famously knocking England out of the 2015 World Cup in the process. However, their ability to show the stomach for a fight against the more abled teams has gone down drastically. Post 2019, they have lost 11 out of 15. This trend continued in the T20 World Cup 2024 where Bangladesh beat Netherlands and Nepal while clinching a narrow victory in the low-scoring affair versus Sri Lanka to advance to Super 8 only to lose their next matches against Australia, India and an ever-improving Afghanistan.

The most glaring revelation of Bangladesh’s T20 woes, though, came at the hands of a second-string Indian side in October 2024. Poor shot selection was a recurring theme across their three innings, with the batters hellbent on muscling the ball on tracks which saw the hosts marry finesse and ferocity to post totals of 221 and 297. Save for the dead rubber in Hyderabad where Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy held their shape, hit through the line and improvised sensibly to contribute 105 out of Bangladesh’s total of 164, the brazen ignorance of key tenets of batsmanship like timing, balance, placement and field manipulation showed how out of depth the Asian Tigers are, so much so that they were at the receiving end of USA’s first series win against a full member nation.

“We haven’t performed collectively,” assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin said. “We have to admit that we are not consistently performing at the highest level. It is a big challenge. We have rapid ups and downs.’’

Bangladesh’s attempts to force the issue in the PowerPlay, well intended but rashly executed, have led to scenarios which rob them of the freedom to accelerate through the middle overs. Litton, Bangladesh’s newly-appointed T20I skipper, advocates for flexibility.

“We might need to chase 180-200 in some games, and 140-145 in other games. The ultimate goal is to win the game. A batter might need to score 40 off 20 balls in one game, and 15 off 20 in the next game. I want every player to be involved in the game. It is more important for the player to know how to win a game, rather than stick to a brand of cricket,’’ he opined.

Execution power is Shaun Tait’s mantra as well. Playing their first BPL season since 2013, Chittagong Kings finished runners-up under his tutelage this year. Well travelled as a bowling coach, his experience will help optimize Bangladesh’s fast-bowling talent, as evidenced by the output of Shoriful Islam and Khaled Ahmed in the homegrown league. “Nowadays in T20 cricket, you can get really confused with field settings. You can get confused with six different deliveries to bowl in one over. I tried to take away the fear of being hit. We talked about getting just two or three types of deliveries right. We took the analytics away from the game, and kept it simple,’’ Tait outlined his philosophy.

He is also eager to collaborate with role model Taskin Ahmed, tearaway speedster Nahid Rana and promising death-overs specialist Hasan Mahmud. “I think it is the first time that the Bangladeshi people are really excited about the fast-bowling stocks.’’ remarked Tait, who has been tasked with fertilizing the seeds planted by his predecessors Ottis Gibson and Allan Donald.