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Bangladesh must win against hosts Oman in their next match in of ICC T20 World Cup where they had a shocking start as they lost to Scotland in the first match by six runs.
Top two teams out of four in each group will earn a spot in Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup which will take place in the UAE and the Tigers must win their next two games to qualify for the bigger stage.
Oman started the tournament with flying colors as they defeated Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets which not only gave them two valuable points but also boosted their net run-rate.
On the other hand, Bangladesh lost to Scotland by six runs in their first match which sent them to the third place among the four teams with a net run-rate of -0.3.
To qualify for the Super 12, Bangladesh must win the remaining two matches and also have to depend on the results of the other team’s matches.
Mahmudullah, the T20 captain of Bangladesh, said he was frustrated after such a shocking defeat and vowed to bounce back against Oman,
“We need to see those areas where we could have done better, and we need to pull our socks up and try to win the next game, definitely”, he said after the match against Scotland on Sunday.
Mahmudullah also hinted that, if necessary, some changes will be made in the team for the next game, “If we need to make any change in our batting line up or in other departments, we will do it”, he said.
The T20 skipper must be worried about the batting form of Shakib Al Hasan which saw a sharp decline after his return from the year-long banishment.
Shakib last scored a half-century in T20i for Bangladesh back in September 2019 which came against Afghanistan in Chattogram.
The allrounder played 13 T20i matches in 2021, where in 12 innings he amassed only 216 runs with a highest score of 36 and his strike rate is also just above run a ball (100.93).
For Bangladesh, Shakib batted at number four for four matches and in the remaining eight innings he batted at number three which gave him ample room to play a bigger innings but he failed to convert the twenties and thirties.
His bad patch with the bat also continued in the Indian Premier League where he scored only 47 runs from the eight matches he played, hit only one six in the entire season and with a highest innings of 26 his strike rate is also poor which is 97.91.
Shakib was out for duck in his last two IPL matches, the second qualifier and the final.
Against Scotland, Shakib played an innings of 20 runs from 28 balls before getting out on the 12th over where he could manage only one boundary.
Oman, after winning against Papua New Guinea, is now looking for another win to grab a spot in the Super 12.
“Bangladesh is a test side, and they have plenty of good players. They have more experience to play in such a big stage”, said Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood after their first win.
“And we have to just take this win as a positive note and we have to play every game day-by-day. We cannot say what is ours and what is in the future. So we are going game by game. So, we have to sort it out what we have done and our mistakes in fielding. We have to work on it and come back strong against Bangladesh and Scotland”, he added.
