Bangladesh has never been a world class team. But that time came five years ago. When they beat South Africa and Pakistan in series for the first time on their home grounds under the leadership of Mashrafe Murtaza. This looked to be a competitive team. Then Nazmul Hasan used to be the head of the board. Then when the time came Mashrafe Murtaza retired. And Bangladesh cricket thought to move on. But many years have passed since then. Bangladesh cricket could not take a single step forward. Rather, the return journey seems to continue day by day. And Nazmul Hasan, thanks to his political influence, continues to head the board.
During this time many coaches were changed. Several captains were tried and there were such wholesale changes that former captain Mashrafe Murtaza described Bangladesh cricket as a ‘rehabilitation center’ for South African coaches.
After Bangladesh’s upset loss to Scotland in last year’s T20 World Cup, Nazmul Hasan publicly blamed his three senior players for the defeat. The way his shadow is visible on every aspect of the Bangladesh cricket board. In modern cricket, there is hardly a cricket board chairman as authoritative as Nazmul Hasan.
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Thanks to his ‘revolutionary’ thoughts, the current T20 squad of Bangladesh is missing the services of many of its senior players. And the uncertainty is so strong that four different captains are tested over the course of eight matches. But the result is the same.
This “Eleven” of Bangladesh was by no means a match for Babar Azam’s team. The captaincy of novice Noorul Hasan Sohan could not prove to be effective. Who tested almost all the bowlers in the power play. Although Tasin Ahmed bowled the first over very well. And got some swing too, so they should have at least continued their journey from the same bank.
“Bainhi Litan Das” is also a proven opener and it was an experimental decision to open with Mehdi Hasan in the Asia Cup. But this team management may have decided on the basis of this one innings, that Mehdi Hasan is the only way to take advantage of the power play. However, if it comes to power hitting, Yasir Ali could have been a much better choice than him.
There was not the kind of bounce one usually sees in a Christchurch wicket. This was the reason why Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were also having trouble timing in the beginning of the innings. But Babur Azam’s approach was commendable. That they took the path of aggression as soon as they got an opportunity to attack without fearing the consequences.
Rizwan once again proved that he is the number one batsman in T20 cricket. No matter the conditions, no matter the bowling attack, they play their style without any strings attached. Valuable runs go on for Pakistan.
Although Pakistan fell a few steps short of the expected competitive total for this pitch. But the middle-order as a whole showed a similar improvement in its approach. Which was necessary for these conditions. If there was another team here instead of Bangladesh, maybe there would have been a match.
But it was a difficult task for Noorul Hasan Sohan’s batsmen. Shahnawaz Dahani and Haris Rauf were not falling for anyone. Mohammad Wasim’s first over proved costly, but he bounced back brilliantly after that. And was the most successful bowler of the match.
Babar Azam took the right decision considering the conditions and brought Mohammad Nawaz out of the powerplay in the middle overs. Along with Jahan Shadab, he thwarted the attempts of Bangladeshi aggression.
This match was very positive for Pakistan. But Bangladesh already had many questions to explore. There Muhammad Waseem left some more questions for him.
Source: BBC News
