Loss, loss, everywhere

Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup campaign in UAE and Oman was nothing but a horror show for the fans. It started with a loss against Scotland, and after a couple of wins against weaker sides, the Tigers’ World Cup ended with five defeats in a row.

As horrid the showing was, it was not just the field where the Tigers suffered. They suffered off the field with questions from board officials, former cricketers, and crucially, financially.

Their loss against Scotland saw them miss out on a big chunk of prize money, and no wins in the Super 12 stage meant they could never recover from that loss.

Money lost in defeats

For every win in the preliminary stage of the World Cup, the International Cricket Council handed out $40,000 or around Tk 34 lacs.

Bangladesh, who were the sixth-ranked side in the ICC T20 rankings, were the favourites in the group to win all three of their matches against Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea.

However, the Tigers were shocked by Scotland in their very first match of the tournament as they lost the game by six runs, losing $40,000.

However, they managed to win the remaining two matches and earn $80,000. But it still meant that Bangladesh earned $80,000 instead of the expected $120,000.

Bangladesh could recover from this if they managed to eke out a win in the Super 12 stage but sadly, they couldn’t.

Bangladesh had two sides ranked lower than them in their group in the Super 12 stage- Sri Lanka and West Indies. In both the games against them, Bangladesh were on track for a win. But against Sri Lanka, a couple of dropped chances cost them dear and against West Indies, they failed to score 33 runs from the last four overs as they lost by three runs.

This meant Bangladesh missed out on $80,000 more, and the only money they received was the $70,000 the Tigers got for their elimination from the Super 12 stage.

But this loss will not have any impact on the Bangladesh Cricket Board, their Chief Executive Officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury confirmed to The Business Post.

“We distribute the prize money among players, coaches and the staff. It doesn’t affect the board’s finances because of that. All the prize money we have received from the World Cup will go to the players and the staff related to the team,” Nizamuddin told TBP.

The impact on rankings

Bangladesh have lost valuable rating points in the ICC T20I rankings due to their losses to Scotland, Sri Lanka and West Indies, sides who were under them at the start of the World Cup.

The Tigers were sixth in the rankings before the World Cup, and they have already dropped down to ninth. And they are barely ahead of Sri Lanka, who can surpass them after their win against West Indies on Thursday.

This will have a big impact as Bangladesh might require to play the preliminary stage again in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The Champions and the runners-up of the

ongoing edition, along with the six best-ranked teams on November 15, will automatically qualify for the Super 12 stage of the next edition.

But as Bangladesh already sit ninth, the Tigers might have to go through the trouble of playing the preliminary stage again.

The World Cup in UAE and Oman has been a disappointing campaign for the Tigers, to say the least. And losses have not just come on the field, but everywhere. And now, they need to plan better if they don’t want the same story, which has been repeated since the 2009 T20 World Cup, to be on display once again in Australia next year.