Shakib scored 11 off seven balls after coming to the crease in the 12th over when Bangladesh needed 121 runs at a strike rate of 14.23 per over. He lamented the team’s weakness in the final stages of the tournament as they managed mediocre scores of 140 for 8 and 146 for 8 against Australia and India respectively. The consistent poor performance of Bangladesh’s top order has not improved even on the pitches in Antigua, where batting has seemed easier than most surfaces in this tournament. Shakib said they could not even muster the will to chase India’s 196 in this game.
“Our win rate in this World Cup is 50 per cent, 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. “As a batting unit we are short of runs. We scored 140 in the last game and 146 today. We should have done better today as we had a target in front of us. We couldn’t even show people that we were trying (to chase the target) today. I don’t think the confidence was there. We have been weak in this area throughout the World Cup.”
“You have to play your best game against teams like Australia and India. I think we lacked skill and strength. We were not able to focus on the basics for a long time to create pressure. In this whole World Cup, I don’t think we have proved ourselves right as a batting unit. We are capable of scoring big. In the last two matches, we fell far short of par scores like 175-185, both matches were played on good wickets. Maybe India scored 20 runs more today, but we have to show intent from the start of the innings. I don’t think that was the intent.”
As an expert for ESPNcricinfo, Tamim said after the match that Bangladesh’s batting failure against India had surprised him. “(Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh captain) said they should have finished the game but Bangladesh never got close in this match. I don’t understand why he said that. Bangladesh’s batting has disappointed throughout this tournament. The think-tank really needs to think about how they go forward from here.”
“When your batsmen are scoring runs, you are confident that your batting order can chase a score like 160 or 170. When you know your batting is struggling, I was surprised that (Bangladesh) decided to bowl first. Some of their decisions in this game have surprised me. Fingers crossed.”
Tamim said the Bangladesh team management’s decision to leave out Taskin Ahmed and bring in an extra batsman in the form of Zaker Ali against India surprised him. Taskin had conceded a few runs against Australia, but he is the vice-captain of the team and is considered the leader of the bowling attack.
“I was very surprised why Taskin didn’t play. Both the spinners gave away a lot of runs. There was a time when India were a bit worried after losing two wickets in a row to Tanjim (Hasan Sakib). Bangladesh could have attacked India more if Taskin was there as an extra pacer. We know about Shivam Dube’s short-ball weakness. Taskin had the pace to use those strategies against him.”
Tamim also believes that not giving the new ball to Mustafizur Rahman was a missed opportunity to capitalise on Rohit Sharma’s weakness against left-arm pacers, while he also believes that Tanzim could have been allowed to continue with the new ball as he had been handling it well in the previous matches.
“Everyone is talking about Rohit Sharma having a slight weakness against left-arm pacers. It keeps running in the mind of the player when he is facing a similar bowler in the game. Bangladesh had a chance to start with a left-arm pacer, just to have a look. India may have scored 196 runs, but Rohit’s start was very important for India. That’s how momentum comes.
“Tanzim did well with the new ball in the previous matches. Today he didn’t get the new ball. Why do you have to change the entire setup for someone else, that too when someone is performing exceptionally well?”
The main purpose of excluding Taskin was to boost the weak batting order. This has been problematic for a long time, but since coming to North America last month, the top order has succumbed to most bowling attacks. Shakib said Bangladesh’s batting has a general tendency to perform better on difficult wickets rather than good batting pitches.
“We don’t really perform well when we play on flat wickets that produce 180-200 runs,” Shakib said. “We play better on wickets that produce 130-150 runs. That’s what we are familiar with. Except for one game in the BPL this year, our local batsmen haven’t really scored big runs. That remains our weakness.”
Tamim further explained that Bangladesh batsmen have not been used to good batting wickets for many years. He said that they play on slow and low surfaces in their country where they play most of their cricket, so when they face good pitches in ICC tournaments, they don’t know what to do.
“Bangladesh (usually) plays on difficult wickets for batsmen. When you put them on very good wickets they don’t score freely. You have to know how to score runs even on good wickets. You have to know your limitations, what shots to play. I think Bangladesh should make a long-term plan to play on good wickets. They don’t get that in Mirpur.”
Tamim said even their flagship T20 tournament, the Bangladesh Premier League, failed to showcase exciting cricket due to the nature of the country’s pitches. He said the win-first (at home) nature of Bangladesh cricket has put batsmen in trouble.
He suggested being patient with better pitches so that batsmen can perform better while bowlers can also learn to bowl on a good batting surface.
“The BPL is a great tournament but we have not been able to prepare wickets that excite the crowd. The scores have been high in the last two years. Teams are chasing 170-180 but we are very result-driven in Bangladesh. If we have a very good wicket in the first game, as soon as we lose that game, people try to prepare spin-friendly tracks. I think not only the players and coaches but the board also has to get out of this mindset. Let us lose for the next six months but prepare wickets where bowlers and batsmen can learn. I think this is the only way forward for Bangladesh cricket.”
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
