Bangladesh in ‘no risk’ mode

A defeat in the first T20I against Ireland has disrupted the pre-series calculations of the Bangladesh selectors as thoughts of T20 World Cup preparation have now been set aside and the focus has shifted towards winning the series.

The selectors were confident that Bangladesh would secure the three-match series against Ireland early by winning the first two games, opening up the chance to test a few new faces in the third T20I. That was why they announced the squad for only the first two games.

But after the first T20I ended in a 39-run defeat, the selectors don't want to take any chances with the squad anymore.

"There is no scope to take risks now. We have to win the series first," selector Hasibul Hossain Shanto told The Daily Star on Saturday, a day before the second T20I. "The earlier plan had to be adjusted a bit. For now, the chances of changes in the squad are slim."

The unexpected defeat has turned today's second T20I into a must-win match for the hosts in order to keep the series alive -- which seemingly outranks the management's desire to try and tick the boxes that are still unchecked before the T20 World Cup.

After the Ireland series, Bangladesh don't have any international matches lined up before the T20 World Cup, set to begin next February in India and Sri Lanka, making it their last opportunity to experiment with the side before the global event.

Understandably, playing three T20Is at home against the 11th ranked side in the world around two-and-half-months before the event hardly seems like an ideal preparatory series before a World Cup.

Still, as the Tigers are fresh of a recent 3-0 whitewash against the West Indies in Chattogram and are ranked just two slots above the Irish, it could have been used to try out a few new options, or at least new combinations.

But the only notable change in the squad from the last series was the inclusion of Mahidul Islam Ankon in place of Shamim Hossain -- a change that had sparked some controversy a day before the series when skipper Litton Das called out the selection panel for ignoring his opinion and dropping the all-rounder.

However, Ankon did not get picked for the match while Saif Hassan, who found success as an opener in the Asia Cup, batted in the middle-order to plug the gap left in Shamim's absence.

Selection-wise, the Tigers played it safe in the first T20I, but their strategy did not work as their batters lost the plot chasing 182 on a flat track. The management would likely stick to the same approach today, hoping it yields the opposite result. But even if they succeed in winning the match and even go on to win the series, failing to address recurring issues or unearth new options would render the triumph largely irrelevant to their T20 World Cup prospects.