The ICC announced the tournament groupings and schedule yesterday, and Bangladesh was placed in a difficult group for the 2018 ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States in June.
The Tigers will kick off their campaign against the Sri Lankans on June 7 in Dallas, USA. They have been placed in Group D with South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, and Nepal.
After that, on June 10, Bangladesh will play the Proteas in New York. On June 13 and 16, respectively, Bangladesh will play the Dutch and Nepal in St. Vincent.
The top two teams in the group go to the Super Eight, where the Tigers will compete for a position in the second round against two Test-playing countries and a formidable Dutch squad that upset them in the ODI World Cup last year.
Habibul Bashar, a former captain and selector, believes there’s no need to worry too much about the composition of the groupings.
“To tell the truth, there is never an easy World Cup. Therefore, it is pointless to consider which group we belong to,” Bashar said to The Daily Star yesterday.
Before the ICC T20 World Cup, Bangladesh will play eight Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) this year, three at home against Sri Lanka in March and five against Zimbabwe in April, according to the Future Tours Programme (FTP).
Bashar is hoping that the upcoming 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which is set to begin on January 19, will help the players prepare for the tournament and uncover new talent, since there are so few Twenty20 international matches remaining before the World Cup, five of which are against teams that were not even able to qualify for the competition.
Additionally, the BPL is approaching. We have already acquired a few players via the BPL, so I am optimistic about this opportunity as well,” Bashar said.
Bangladesh has a dismal track record in T20 World Cups; in the most recent edition, which was hosted in Australia in 2022, the country managed only two wins.
Although Bashar didn’t want to set unrealistic expectations, he did hope that the Tigers would take advantage of the favorable circumstances in the US and the West Indies.
“We are still not a true T20 side, despite our recent success… My experience tells me that the pitches in the US and the West Indies, where we will be playing, are comparatively slower, which will work for us. However, in order to outperform ourselves in the next ICC games, we must play our best cricket.”
The US vs. Canada match will kick off the 20-team competition on June 1 in Dallas.
On June 19, the Super Eight stage will begin. The final in Barbadose on June 29 will bring the competition to an end.