Changed squad, unchanged result

Bangladesh made six changes from their T20 World Cup squad against Pakistan, came back to their very own ‘home of cricket’, but could not get out of their losing spree as they suffered a defeat by four wickets against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 international of the three-match at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board officials hinted to bring change in the support staff panel. As a result, fielding coach Ryan Cook departed, and spin bowling coach Rangana Herath did not return as his tenure was over.

Underperforming Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar were axed, Mushfiqur Rahim was ‘rested’ though he interpreted that he was dropped. Khaled Mahmud joined the team as Team Director, and last but not least, the Tigers returned to their den, where they wonback-to-back series against Australia and New Zealand.

But nothing could change their fate as they suffered their sixth defeat in a row in the past three weeks and the poor batting display continued despite some change at the top.

Saif Hassan, who has played five Tests for Bangladesh so far, was suddenly called up while he was playing National Cricket League. So was Najmul Hossain Shanto and a few others, who all underwent a ‘range-hitting’ training.

But there was nothing special in their batting against Pakistan as both of them showed the old shackled tendency against Pakistan and got out cheaply. Saif scored just one run from eight balls, and Najmul managed only seven from 14 balls, which could allow Liton and Soumya to raise the question, “What was wrong with us?”

Bangladesh ended the powerplay with 25-3, a usual scenario during the T20 World Cup and was reproduced against Pakistan in Dhaka. There was only one boundary from the Tigers in the entire powerplay, which is one of the most productive areas for most teams in this format.

Mahmudullah’s poor show continued as he was clueless against Mohammad Nawaz’s left-arm orthodox delivery.

In Bangladesh, Left-arm spinners are widely available in the nets, domestic cricket, and in training sessions but Mahmudullah failed to judge the delivery, which just brushed his off-stump and dislodged the bail, and ended the sorry affair of his six runs from 11 balls.

A late surge from Afif Hossain (36), Nurul Hasan (28), and Mahedi Hasan (30*) took Bangladesh to 127-7 after 20 overs, which is an insufficient total in this format but could be tricky on a surface like Mirpur.

Bangladesh almost choked the opposition in reply, as Pakistan were struggling at 24-4 after the powerplay. But Fakhar Zaman (34) and Khushdil Shah (34) salvaged the team out of danger.

The little cameos from Shadab Khan (21* from 10) and Mohammad Nawaz (18* from eight) took Pakistan to victory with four balls to spare.

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah credited his bowlers for the good start, but that ultimately did not work as the result remained unchanged.

“I think our bowlers did well. We took wickets upfront. It happens in the death overs when batsmen are chancing their arms. Our bowlers tried hard, especially Mustafiz. But their (Pakistan) last two batsmen played better,” he said.

“Hopefully we can come up with a better plan tomorrow (today),” Mahmudullah said in the post-match presentation ceremony, something he has been saying since the World Cup, but no change in the result was visible despite so many changes in planning or players.