Mistakes made and little ‘repair’ time left

Bangladesh began their series against USA on a disastrous note on Tuesday, succumbing to a five-wicket loss in the first of three T20Is in Houston. While the result was unexpected, it did not feel earth-shattering due to Bangladesh's recent performances in the build up to the fast-approaching T20 World Cup, slated to begin on June 1.

What skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said later only felt like giving more life to a living, breathing problem of their poor performances in the format, for failure to address shortcomings properly also signifies not being aware of the underlying reasons related to approach, skill and tactical maneuvers.

The Tigers' scorecard after the Powerplay read only 37 for two despite 34 coming off the first four. Decision to exclude Tanzid Tamim, who found runs in the Zimbabwe series, also lacked logic of the convincing kind.

Shanto's remarks on wickets in the recent Zimbabwe series compounding to batters' struggles did not go down well, with former captain and Bangladesh Cricket Board's HP unit chairman Naimur Rahman yesterday saying that wickets were made according to the team's demands.

Even after the Powerplay, the out-of-form batters' struggle with form showed with both Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto unable to push the tempo.

At the end of 12 overs, Bangladesh were scoring at below six runs per over and had lost four wickets. Only Towhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah Riyad's knock enabled Bangladesh post a challenging score.

"I don't think there is anything to worry because all the batters are working with their skill," Shanto had said after the game, but the last few games the middle-order had saved the Tigers' blushes.

While batting was the major calamity, the decisions made when trying to defend a small total of 153 backfired. Bangladesh bowled out Mahedi Hasan in the 13th over and when Corey Anderson and Harmeet Singh, both left-handers started going on the counterattack, Shanto could not bowl either Shakib or Rishad Hossain due to unfavourable matchup.

Then the two left-arm seamers found it difficult against the same left-handers of USA, Mahmudullah Riyad was asked to bowl the last over with too little left to defend. Crucially during the last four overs, Shanto failed to take into account the direction of the wind as the batters capitalised by hitting big sixes with the wind.

Shanto's explanation after the match was uninspiring. "It (wind) is very important. I think when we came here for practice we all knew the wind would be having a big impact in the match. We all saw that but we tried to execute that plan," he said.

Chairman of the selection panel, Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, yesterday acknowledged that there were shortcomings on display in the match against the USA. "We have to quickly repair the mistakes occurring in some situations and we don't have much time ahead of the World Cup," he highlighted the woes as Tigers look for a short turnaround.