Tigers redefining themselves in T20Is, one six at a time

After the first T20I against Pakistan on July 20, opener Parvez Hossain Emon had claimed that even the No.11 batter of the current Bangladesh team can clear the ropes.

And on Thursday, in the third and final T20I in Mirpur, Shoriful Islam, Bangladesh's last batter, justified his statement by depositing Hussain Talat for a six over long on in the 16th over.

That six had no impact in the fate of the match, as the Tigers lost by 74 runs, but it was significant nonetheless as with it, Bangladesh became the only Test-playing team to hit 100 sixes across formats in the current calendar year.

Bangladesh are also leading the six-hitting list in T20Is this year among Test-playing nations, with 91 sixes in just 12 games.

Bangladesh have won five T20Is out of 12 they have played this year, and four out of those five wins have come in a row this month in two bilateral assignments -- an away series against Sri Lanka followed by the just-concluded home series against Pakistan -- both of which they won 2-1.

In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh bounced back from a defeat in the series opener with back-to-back victories. They carried that momentum into the Pakistan series, winning the first two matches before a defeat in the third ended their winning streak at four games.

Bangladesh winning four T20Is or more in a row is rare, as it has happened only four times before. But diving deeper into the team's batting performances in those four victories, an unprecedented pattern emerged.

In all those games, at least one Bangladeshi batter hit five sixes or more, which has never happened four times in a row for the Tigers in T20Is.

First, it was captain Litton Das, who deposited five maximums in Dambulla, opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim then followed it up with six sixes in Colombo, his opening partner Emon cleared the ropes five times in Mirpur and then Jaker Ali made it four in a row by smashing five sixes in the following game.

Four different batters going on a six-hitting spree in four games is testament to the fact that the current T20I side has some depth when it comes to hitting big shots.

And the fact that in all four innings, the batters hit more sixes than fours signals a psychological shift, as batters now have the belief that they can clear the ropes, which even a few years ago was missing.

In July of 2022, after getting outpowered by West Indies and losing a T20I series 2-0 in the Caribbean, Litton had said, "They [West Indies batters] can clear big grounds at will. We are not capable of it. We always think about hitting fours. They hit more sixes. This is the difference that always exists… We really can't play powerful cricket."

In a little over three years', Litton is now leading a Bangladesh team that is actively attempting to hit more sixes than fours, clearing the ropes more often than most teams and are not afraid to play "powerful cricket".

Even though consistency remains a big issue and big-hitting alone is not sufficient to win matches, the bravery and the clear mindset shown by the batters is heartening. With the Asia Cup coming up in September and the ICC T20 World Cup next year, the challenge now would be to go strength-to-strength from here, not letting the team abandon their positive approach and once again take shelter in a cocoon of mediocrity.