Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of the Bangladeshi one-day international squad, stated on Saturday, 9 September that the Asia Cup served as his side’s “reality check” before the upcoming World Cup, which will be played in India from October 5 to November 19.
Bangladesh is in danger of being eliminated after losing to Sri Lanka by 21 runs in their second Super Four game on Saturday at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Bangladesh only needed a win to stay in the game after losing their first Super Four match to Pakistan by seven wickets, but they were unable to do it due to yet another subpar performance from their batting line.
Shakib told the media following the Sri Lanka match that “we need to work on our batting,” as it had gone worse in the six months since the series against England and then Afghanistan.
We need to talk about the problems and take action to fix them because we are worried about our batting. This World Cup game, he claimed, will be essential. One must confront the truth.
It is impossible to conclude that we are a bad team because in bilateral series, we typically perform better than our competitors. However, in situations like these, where we don’t put on particularly strong performances, we truly put ourselves to the test. Due to our three World Cup victories—in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019, people can say a lot about us. But when put to the test, we frequently fail. Shakib thinks it was a good idea to schedule the competition before the World Cup because it forced everyone to think of solutions before we could become better.
We don’t have a history since we haven’t been successful (in important competitions), the player said. We participated in two or three Asia Cup championship games, and even though it would have been fantastic if we had prevailed, we are always a competitive team.
Everything hinges on the other teams’ performance in Bangladesh’s final match against India on September 15 at the same location, where they still have a remote possibility of making it to the championship game.
Shakib believed that if their top four had produced in the middle during their pivotal encounter against Sri Lanka, the outcome may have been different after holding the islanders to 257-9 in 50 overs.
Had the top four been able to establish a substantial partnership on a difficult pitch like today’s, the dressing room would have been calm and the confidence would have been strong. We must change our approach after losing four wickets so rapidly. We had a strong connection, but we wanted more. It was Hridoy’s responsibility to score the game-winning goal. We can chase 230–240 runs on this wicket, but 260 runs was a bit much, so we really needed to bat well to get there. Shakib claimed that the wicket was better for batting than during the day, but we squandered our opportunity and gave up 20 runs more. He added that it was a prudent decision to field first.
Because there was a probability of rain, I believed the bowlers would triumph. By winning the toss, they made the right choice, and I believe they would have chosen to bowl first as well.
Shakib supported Mehedy Hasan’s selection even though he noted that the other starter Mohammad Naim had been receiving more starts. Mehedy Hasan began the season as Bangladesh’s opener, but other than his game-winning century against Afghanistan, it wasn’t very successful.
“Naim played in all four of the games, starting each one. I think a man can score 80 or 100 runs if he can score 20 runs. The speaker said, “He’s exiting after a start, so he should focus on mental rather than technical factors.”
Mehedy Miraz should assume accountability because he is a reliable batsman. We might start him against some opponents because he did not inadvertently score a century (against Afghanistan). The skipper added that batting at position seven adds depth as well.
Shakib announced that there would be more cricketers in the upcoming three one-day internationals against New Zealand because the World Cup will include a lot of travelling.
“Everyone gets a chance as we attempt a few different things in the three games versus New Zealand. The cricketers whose participation in the World Cup has been confirmed may be rested due to the practise matches and travel required. But without a solid bench, we won’t be able to recover if an injury occurs. Everyone needs to stay in shape. I genuinely hope the other four pace bowlers keep up their fitness since Ebadat isn’t there.
