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Bangladesh’s five-man pace attack for the 2022 T20 World Cup is providing them hope for their much-awaited success in the format as it was the pacers who led them to their first-ever victory in the Super 12 area on Monday.
So far in the tournament, pacers have proved to be the game-changers for several teams. In the high-voltage India-Pakistan clash, Arshdeep Singh pegged Pakistan back early, and then Haris Rauf showcased his pace to keep India on the ropes until Virat Kohli decided to unleash his mercurial mode.
Even in Bangladesh’s first match against Netherlands, Taskin’s early double strike shook the Dutch before he took two more, and Hasan Mahmud was economical with his 2-15 in four overs. Taskin ended the match with figures of 4-25, his best in T20Is.
While Mustafiz remained wicketless, he bowled with a different action, one much more straight-arm than side-arm, meaning he is trying to return to the action that made him such a mystery.
Other than them, Bangladesh have Ebadot Hossain and Shoriful Islam on the bench, with the former producing quick pace and the latter extracting extra bounce due to his height.
Bangladesh fast-bowling coach Allan Donald, ahead of the World Cup, told The Business Post that he was getting praise for the Bangladesh pace attack from everywhere.
“Yes, it’s a very good (pace) attack. And I’m not the only one saying it. Other coaches have come to me and said this Bangladesh pace attack is a good attack. And we have shown in the Asia Cup what can be done. And that’s the exciting thing for me,” he said in an interview.
While Ebadot has played only three matches and Hasan Mahmud only seven, that is hardly an issue for the Tigers now as they have both showcased good fast bowling, especially the latter.
With his smooth action, Mahmud has been generating good pace (around 140 kph) and hitting good lines and lengths. With Taskin being the enforcer and Mustafiz the specialist, Mahmud has the cushion to continue his style, which has produced good results for him.
“It (my bowling) has been good so far. Taskin bhai got the flow in the first over. Then I took over. It felt really well,” Mahmud said after their match against Netherlands.
The pace trio that Bangladesh fielded in the first match is likely to be their first choice throughout the tournament barring injuries, but Taskin understood that they still needed improvement.
“The pacers have all been working hard. We spent some time in New Zealand (the tri-series before the World Cup). Here, we tried to focus on our basics. We are improving as a bowling unit; we are doing well. Everyone is focused on keep improving,” the player of the match from the first match said.
Taskin added that they believed they would turn themselves into a world-class pace-bowling unit.
“We are all improving. We believe we can become a world-class pace unit. We are optimistic about that, and the process is working well. It’s difficult to bowl in T20s. One day you will leak runs, and one day you will win matches.
“But everybody is hungry to win. There is unity among the team. Everyone is backing each other up, which is positive. If we can hold on to that, we can play even better cricket in the coming matches,” the pacer said.
Yet, there are concerns about the death bowling as Mustafiz, the Tigers’ biggest hope at the back end of their innings, has seemingly been out of touch.
Taskin though was not much bothered about it as he believed the Fizz would turn things around very soon.
“A cricketer can go through a tough phase. But we are seeing that Mustafiz is bowling well. He is working really hard. He is following the process really well. He will turn things around soon. He is a champion bowler. He has had a few bad matches, but he will do well in the future. What he has in his hands is the process, which he is following ardently,” Taskin said after their first match.
Bangladesh will be hoping that Mustafiz gets back to form soon. Because once he does, they will have an in-form pace attack, which might just get them the success they are looking for.
