A course correction forgotten?

The 2021 ICC T20 World Cup was a disaster for Bangladesh.

The campaign began with a defeat to Scotland in the preliminary round and ended with five losses and zero wins in the main phase.

The Tigers had come into the tournament with a false sense of confidence, having just registered two landmark series wins at home against second-string Australia and New Zealand sides on heavily doctored wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Those matches left the players unprepared for what was waiting for them in the UAE and they looked like fish out of water on proper T20 wickets.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), to its credit, learned its lesson and correctedcourse before the next T20 World Cup. The board arranged a tri-series against Pakistan and New Zealand in New Zealand on November 2022, right before the event kicked off in Australia that same month.

The board couldn't arrange a high-profile preparatory series in the build-up to the 2024 edition, but it sent the side to the USA -- one of the host countries -- for a series against the Associate side.

Although the Tigers lost 2-1, they exceeded expectations in the main tournament, registering three wins -- most ever for them in a single edition -- and making it to the second round. The Tigers even had a great chance of making it to the semifinal for the first time, which they squandered.

Bangladesh are now approaching the 2026 edition, set to take place in India and Sri Lanka starting from February 7. But rather than building towards the event as a team, the players will be busy vying against each other in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), beginning on December 26.

The Tigers have already completed their last T20I assignment before the World Cup, a home series against Ireland which they won 2-1. Before the Irish, the Tigers played three T20Is against West Indies in Chattogram in October and lost all of those.

Unlike the previous two editions, Bangladesh will neither face top sides nor play matches in the host country in the build-up.

Bangladesh have played a lot of T20Is in 2025 -- 30 in total which is also the highest ever for them in one year -- but the results have been a mixed bag. They have won 15 matches -- most ever in a year for them, lost 14 and one game ended in a no-result.

They have blown hot and cold away from home, winning series over Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, while also losing 2-1 to the UAE and getting clean-swept by Pakistan. At the Asia Cup at the UAE in September, they progressed to the Super Fours but could not make it to the final.

At home, before the humiliation against the Caribbeans and the triumph over the Irish, they won series against Pakistan and the Netherlands.

As the T20 World Cup is set to begin just two weeks after the BPL final, it leaves no room for the board to arrange a preparatory series for the Tigers. But there was enough scope to do that before the BPL. Such laissez-faire attitude from the BCB before a T20 World Cup seems like courting disaster, much like they had done in 2021. Whether it leads to a similarly disastrous campaign is left to be seen.