Less than two weeks remain before the 10th Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) event, which will serve as the national team’s primary preparation for the next ICC Twenty20 World Cup in June.
The significance of this year’s BPL is increased by the Tigers’ limited schedule of eight Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) – three at home against Sri Lanka in March and five against Zimbabwe in April – which comes before the World Cup in the US and the West Indies.
The T20 World Cup is about six months away, but the cricket community in the nation is already talking about it. Shakib Al Hasan, who will be playing in the BPL again, was asked about the competition.
Shakib believes Bangladesh has a good chance of winning the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup.
Shakib, who was just elected to the parliament, attended the Rangpur Riders’ training session yesterday and voiced excitement for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in light of the Tigers’ recent success in the shortest format.
“Over the last year, we have performed really well. The squad, in my opinion, is well-balanced and has a nice rhythm. Expectations will undoubtedly be high since everyone is playing well and we just performed well in New Zealand,” Shakib told the reporters yesterday.
“Our cricket style will be well suited by the tournament’s location in the United States and the West Indies. Thus, we have a chance,” the 36-year-old said.
Shakib’s assertion on Bangladesh’s recent T20 performance cannot be completely disregarded.
With the exception of the three games that a subpar Bangladeshi side played in the Asian Games, Bangladesh had an amazing 2023, winning eight of their 11 games. Among those victories were their first T20 victory over New Zealand in New Zealand and a 3-0 home sweep of England.
However, taking inspiration from wins in bilateral series might set up Bangladesh for serious disappointment. Captain Shakib and many others had similar hopes before the ODI World Cup last year, but the Tigers’ performance in that tournament turned out to be their worst in twenty years.
In addition, Shakib said that the Tigers, who are grouped with South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, and Nepal in Group D, will be well-suited to the conditions in the US and the West Indies.
However, further investigation exposes the falsity of this finding as well.
Bangladesh will play two matches in Dallas and New York, cities that have not hosted an international match, and a pair in St. Vincent, a place they have not visited since 2014.
Furthermore, it is not a smart idea to hope for slow, low pitches like the ones the Tigers receive in Bangladesh since the ICC often creates real wickets in major tournaments.
The crew is also dealing with a few unresolved concerns that must be resolved right now.
First, the board must pick between selecting Najmul Hossain Shanto, who has shown promise as a leader recently, or sticking with Shakib as captain.
The board must also disclose the progress achieved by its special committee in its investigation of the ODI World Cup tragedy.
No matter how confident anybody feels, the squad cannot expect to do well in the T20 World Cup if a captain is not chosen well in advance of the competition and the problems that have plagued the team in the past are not addressed.