Tigers yet to find T20 win in UAE

Bangladesh cricket team is yet to win a Twenty20 International match in the United Arab Emirates, where the Asia Cup is scheduled to begin Saturday.

UAE is a busy cricket hub as several franchise leagues and international tournaments occur there, but cricketers from Bangladesh hardly have any experience of playing in the gulf areas.

Afghanistan cricket board hosted the Afghan Premier League T20 in UAE in 2018. The matches took place at the Sharjah Cricket Ground, one of the venues of the Asia Cup this year.

Not only that, Afghanistan often use the cricket grounds in UAE as their home venue, and so far, have played 38 T20I matches there and won 28 of them while losing only 10.

Pakistan also used to utilise UAE as their home ground when teams refused to travel to their country after the attack on the bus carrying Sri Lankan cricket players in 2009.

Pakistan have played 42 T20I matches in UAE, winning 26 while losing 14, and two matches ended in a tie.

Moreover, several matches of the Pakistan Super League across multiple seasons were also played in UAE, giving their cricketers immense experience of playing at the venues of the Asia Cup.

The entire 2020 season of the Indian Premier League took place in UAE when Asia Cup venues Sharjah and Dubai were used along with Abu Dhabi for the IPL.

In 2021, IPL began in India, but after a breach in the biosecurity bubble, matches were shifted to UAE, where the remaining 31 matches were played.

Though most Indian cricketers have a wealth of experience playing in UAE, Indian cricket teams have relatively low success rates in the gulf. India played five matches during the ICC T20 World Cup in UAE, where they won three and lost two.

Sri Lanka have a little more experience of playing in UAE as they have played 13 T20I matches and won six.

India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also have the experience of playing a number of Test matches and One-Day Internationals in UAE, which Bangladesh also lack.

Bangladesh have so far played only 11 ODI matches in UAE, but five of them were in the nineties. The most recent experience of playing in UAE is the 2018 Asia Cup, where Mashrafe and Co lost the final to India by three wickets.

While players from countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan have a good deal of experience playing in UAE through franchise tournaments, Bangladesh lack that.

In 2020, the entire IPL took place in UAE, where none from Bangladesh were picked. In 2021, almost half of the matches of the IPL took place in UAE, where only Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman represented Bangladesh.

Overall, Bangladesh cricketers lack the experience of playing in Sharjah and Dubai, whereas the opposition players have huge experience, which could make the difference.