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Cricketers regularly playing for Bangladesh in T20Is for the past year and a half have failed to impress for their respective franchises in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League.
T20I is not the forte for many Bangladeshi cricketers, and that answers why the Tigers were toothless in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. And with the next edition of the T20 World Cup less than a year away, no significant improvement is visible among players who were part of the global T20 event last year.
Former cricketer turned coach Aftab Ahmed thinks that lack of courage and adaptability, along with too much familiarity with the slow and low tracks of the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, is hurting them.
Mohammad Naim has been one of the regular starters for Bangladesh in T20Is since Tamim Iqbal opted out of the format. In the last 12 months, Naim has played 26 T20Is for Bangladesh. After missing the opening game of the T20 WC against Scotland, Naim has opened the innings for 10 straight T20Is but is one of the most struggling cricketers in the ongoing BPL.
Naim, playing as a one-down batsman for Minister Dhaka, has scored 9, 4, 4, and 15 in his four innings. In his highest individual innings of 15, he played 30 balls after coming to bat in the power-play.
Afif Hossain was dubbed as the future T20 star for Bangladesh when he became the youngest to take a T20 five-for on his debut for Rajshahi Kings in the 2016 BPL. The left-handed batsman is also a regular face in T20Is for Bangladesh. Though the gap between his first and second T20I is almost one and half years, his innings of 52 runs from 26 balls against Zimbabwe in 2019 made Afif a household name in the format. But he has not been living up to the expectations in this BPL.
Afif has scored 119 runs from the six innings and is yet to get a half-century. Against Comilla Victorians on Monday, he showed some maturity to stay at the crease with the in-form Will Jacks, but then played a nothing shot to get out for only four.
Afif’s teammate, Shamim Hossain, is also guilty of the same charge. Part of the U-19 World Cup-winning team, Shamim caught the eyes of the selectors for his aggressive style of batting and was considered a T20 Specialist, but has lost his spot in the Chattagram XI.
Shamim played four matches before being dropped against Comilla, where his scores were 14, 1, 9, and 2. His national team performances are also bleak as he amassed only 124 runs from 10 matches after making his debut in July last year.
Nurul Hasan Sohan was very active in T20Is for Bangladesh throughout the build-up stage of the T20 WC 2021 as he replaced Mushfiqur Rahim behind the stumps but failed to deliver that solidity in front of the stumps.
Since July 2021, he has played 21 T20Is, but his performance in the BPL as a batsman has been very poor. He managed only 26 runs in three matches for Fortune Barishal. The match against Khulna Tigers was a perfect platform for him to play his A-game as Shakib Al Hasan pushed himself down the order to promote youngsters, but Sohan failed to hit a boundary in 10 balls and got out in the 11th.
Batting has been a problem area for Shakib as he keeps on hopping between Bangladesh and USA, he hardly could manage extra time to improve his batting skills. Shakib does something meaningful in every match, but his batting graphs are declining. He is yet to hit a fifty in this BPL, with his highest score being 41 on Monday. In the T20Is, his last half-century came against Afghanistan back in 2019.
Aftab, now a coach, thinks that current national team cricketers lack the dare to play big shots.
“What I found is that our present cricketers lack courage. They don’t dare to play shots. Everyone can hit sixes, but they don’t dare. They are too afraid of getting out. I think the fear of getting out should not be in mind because it will create confusion about whether to hit or not,” he told The Business Post.
Aftab, one of the finest stroke makers of his generation, also pointed out that the national team players train and play too much at SBNCS, where the surface is not batting-friendly.
“They play most matches in Mirpur. So, all their preparation and game plans are set accordingly. So, when the surface changes, they struggle to adapt. Wherever they go, their preparation module stays at the back of their mind,” he said.
Aftab also coached the T-10 League team Bengal Tigers, where came across many players like Benny Howell and Will Jacks, who did not even make it to the national team but are performing brilliantly across various franchise-based tournaments.
“I have worked with Bangla Tigers, and what I can say from my experience is, foreign players are very professional. We lack planning. We lack adjustability. Mirpur offers slow wickets, but in Chattogram, the wicket is batting friendly. What is holding them back to play shots?” asked Aftab.
“We lack adaptability, professionalism and courage. None should have the fear of getting out while batting in T20s,” he added.
