Bangladesh’s cricket team captain, Shakib Al Hasan, openly voiced his disappointment with their underwhelming performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup. On Saturday, Bangladesh suffered their fifth consecutive defeat in the tournament, as the Netherlands defeated them by 87 runs, effectively dashing their hopes of advancing beyond the group stage.
Leading up to the World Cup, Bangladesh had high hopes of making a significant impact. They started the tournament with a win against Afghanistan but have failed to secure a victory since. This marks a stark departure from their previous World Cup performances, where they managed to win at least three matches in each competition since 2007. However, their current losing streak puts their track record in jeopardy, especially with upcoming matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Australia.
Shakib Al Hasan, addressing reporters after the disheartening loss to the Netherlands, candidly admitted, “You can say that it is Bangladesh’s worst World Cup performance without any doubt. I don’t have an answer to why we played this way. I don’t want to blame anyone. We are a better team than our performance. We were disappointing in this tournament, something that the whole dressing room would agree.” He also expressed his determination to identify the root causes of their struggles.
When asked about what went wrong, Shakib remarked, “It is a hard question to answer. You have asked the wrong person. From my point of view, we need to change a lot of things. But it is not the time to talk about these things. It is disappointing that we haven’t played in the semifinals in 24 years. The way our people focus on cricket, we should have done better.”
Shakib attributed much of the team’s struggle to batting inconsistencies, saying, “As a batting unit, if you ask me to summarize our six matches with the bat, we were very poor, other than Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. All other batters were not up to the mark. I thought we were well short of confidence in both departments.”
While Shakib praised the team’s bowling efforts and expressed disappointment in their fielding, he also addressed the controversial decision to demote Mahmudullah to number seven against the Netherlands, despite his recent century against South Africa. Shakib explained, “We have a team of limitations in batting and bowling. We are not comfortable bowling or batting in different times and positions. We are not comfortable facing bowlers at certain times, so we have to adjust all the time.”
Shakib acknowledged that the departure of former ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal from the 50-over format could have had an impact on their World Cup journey, especially after the publicized discord between the two just before the global tournament. He suggested that this situation might have contributed to the team’s struggles, hinting at the existence of different factions within the team during the era when Shakib and Tamim shared the national dressing room.
- Disclaimer: The prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.
