Five Reasons why Bangladesh can be a successful T20 side

Five Reasons why Bangladesh can be a successful T20 side

Bangladesh have grown a lot as a side in the last 15 years to from becoming a formidable ODI team to becoming a more potent and impressive T20 side.

                                       Bangladesh will face India in Asia Cup T20 2016 final© AFP

Bangladesh have grown a lot as a side in the last 15 years to from becoming a formidable ODI team to becoming a more potent and impressive T20 side.

Cricket has evolved significantly over years, from Tests to ODIs to T20s. The Bangladesh cricket team’s evolution over years can be compared to the evolution of cricket. Starting off by becoming a Test-playing nation in 2000, Bangladesh have grown a lot as a side in the last 15 years to become a formidable ODI team. But the transformation from ODIs to T20Is has been tough for Bangladeshi cricket. Bangladesh had a memorable 2015 in terms of ODIs: they reached the quarter-final of ICC World cup 2015 for the first time in history, and beat Pakistan (3-0), India (2-1), South Africa (2-1) and Zimbabwe (3-0), albeit all at home. This was the first team in the team’s history they went a year without losing an ODI series. Yet, all the positives from ODI format was unable to be converted into victories in T20Is.

However, if one looks beyond numbers, the Bangladeshi side should not fear much about their T20I results. The following 5 reasons should tell why they can transfer their good ODI form into results in T20.

1. Bowling attack: The current Bangladesh bowling line-up is one of the best in their history. The bowling has a mixture of pace and skill. They are marshalled by captain Mashrafe Mortaza, and include young and fiery Taskin Ahmed, the hardworking Al-Amin Hossain, a sensational Mustafizur Rahman and the ever-reliable Shakib Al Hasan. Their depth in bowling means that Rubel Hossain is around the cards in every match. On a given day, this bowling attack can contain the best batting teams.

2. Shakib Al Hasan: Over years Bangladesh have produced many talented players from Mohammad Ashraful to Habibul Bashar to Abdur Razzak, but Shakib has overshadowed all of them. A very rare find, Shakib is the near-perfect all-rounder. His exceptional abilities were noticed at international when he became the first player to be No. 1 all-rounder in ICC rankings in all formats of the game. Be it soaking pressure, clearing the boundary, or taking wickets, Shakib has it all in him.

3. Emergence of batsmen: Bangladesh have always produced good batsmen, but no one can deny the current lot of batsmen brings more hope for the fans than any in their history. The emergence of Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and the experience of Tamim Iqbal can be very useful in coming times. Both Sabbir and Sarkar have showcased their abilities to guide their side to finals in the recent Asia Cup 2016.

4. Captaincy: Mortaza’s aggressive captaincy has been a welcome sign for the team. Of late, his aggressive approach of attacking the batsmen throughout the innings and innovative field placements has yielded results. In T20Is, it is necessary to build pressure from early on, and Mashrafe understands the need of early wickets.

5. Heath Streak: Streak has changed the bowling attack of Bangladesh significantly. Since his addition to the coaching staff, the bowling has found a lot of confidence with bowlers getting the ball at right areas at good pace. Under his coaching, the bowlers have learnt to deliver more yorkers, cutters, and good-length balls, which have earned them wickets in 2015.

Courtesy : Cricket Country

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Cricket: India crush UAE to warm up for Asia Cup final

Cricket: India crush UAE to warm up for Asia Cup final

India warmed up for the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh with a crushing nine-wicket win over minnows United Arab Emirates in Dhaka on Thursday, their last league match in the competition.
A disciplined Indian attack restricted the UAE to a meagre 81-9 before they reached 82-1 in just 10.1 overs to complete the rout, their fourth victory in as many matches in the tournament.
Opener Rohit Sharma made the highest 39 runs with 28 balls, hitting seven fours and six, while Yuvraj Singh made good use of his promotion in one-down position with an unbeaten 25.
"The wickets here have been challenging, not the easiest," said man of the match Rohit. "I am glad we have put up a performance like that.
"Initially, you have to see the conditions. Once you get a hang of it, you can probably play your shots," he added.
Rohit put on 43 runs in the opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan before he was caught by Mohammad Naveed of Qadeer Ahmed in third man area, in what turned out to be the UAE's only success in the game.
Dhawan, who scored just three runs in his previous two matches in the tournament, carefully protected his wicket to remain 16 not out.
"I wanted that innings," he said after the match. "I have spent some time in the middle. It was important to get the feel of the wicket for the final."
Shaiman Anwar was the UAE's top scorer, making 43 runs before he was the last man dismissed.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed 2-8 playing his first match in the series, while all of the other bowlers used by India skipper MS Dhoni were rewarded with a wicket.
India rested Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashish Nehra ahead of the March 6 final and brought in uncapped Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
UAE captain Amjad Javed said they were looking for a total of around 120 runs.
"We were playing the favourites of the tournament and it was difficult for us," he said.
"When you face top quality bowlers, it is difficult. They have got experience and they will come back hard."
The league phase of the tournament will end with Pakistan facing Sri Lanka on Friday.

Courtesy : Yahoo Cricket News

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Bangladesh hold nerve to dump Pakistan out of Asia Cup

Bangladesh hold nerve to dump Pakistan out of Asia Cup

Those who watch cricket regularly will tell you that in a tight contest, the winning side will always show some signs of their impending triumph. Mahmudullah's upright blast over extra cover at the start of the 17th over can only be described as the shot of the tournament so far. In a tight chase of 130 against Pakistan, it was only fair that Mahmudullah struck the blow that took Bangladesh to the Asia Cup final.

Despite Shakib Al Hasan's brain freeze to Mohammad Amir in the 18th over, Mashrafe Mortaza struck two heroic fours immediately after to ease Bangladesh's nerves. Then, in a manic 19th over bowled by Mohammad Sami which included two no balls, Mahmudullah's squeezed boundary past point all but sealed victory for the hosts. Once Mahmudullah duly knocked off the winning runs with a slog past midwicket, he and Mashrafe wheeled away in wild celebration, nearly ramming into their on-rushing team-mates.

Mahmudullah's unbeaten 15-ball 22 was perhaps the most important innings of his career, particularly because he was at the crease in the last over of the 2012 Asia Cup final, when Bangladesh fell short by two runs against Pakistan. This game went into the last over too, but mostly because Bangladesh lost wickets at crucial stages and were trying their best not to crumble to Amir. The other Pakistan bowlers were all shoddy, and they were not helped by the team's very poor effort in the field.

Still, it was Bangladesh who were pegged back early in their 130-run chase. Tamim Iqbal was the first to go as a rare leg-before victim of Mohammad Irfan, who brought the ball into the batsman and hit the striding front pad half-way up. Luckily, Soumya Sarkar found Sabbir Rahman willing to stick around to weather the initial Amir storm. After the pair had safely negotiated those two overs, they looked for runs off the other bowlers. Soumya managed to hit Amir for an elegant four through midwicket, while Sabbir's only boundary in his 15-ball 14 also came through a roll of the wrist, through fine-leg.

Sabbir fell to Shahid Afridi in the ninth over, missing a charge completely to be bowled. Soumya survived a few close calls with miscued hits dropping short on a number of occasions, but he was generally hitting them well on the leg-side. Mushfiqur Rahim was also lucky to survive a close leg-before appeal to Afridi before Amir and Malik brought Pakistan into the game in the space of eight deliveries in the 13th and 14th overs.

Having been brought back for a single over as his second spell, Amir yorked Soumya by clattering into his leg-stump. Soumya had made a run-a-ball 48 that had five fours and the pumped six into the midwicket stands, but when he got out, Bangladesh needed 47 off 40 balls.

There was much expected from the experienced duo of Mushfiqur and Shakib at that stage, but Mushfiqur was given out leg-before trying to reverse-sweep Malik in the over after Soumya got out.

Taskin Ahmed and Al-Amin Hossain were Bangladesh's best bowlers, stepping up in the absence of Mustafizur Rahman, who was ruled out through a right side strain. Taskin bowled his first maiden over in his T20I career in a first-spell that saw him give away just one run. His second spell produced the wicket of Umar Akmal; he finished with figures of 4-1-14-1. Al-Amin bowled two tight overs at the top, giving away just nine runs before returning in the last four overs to give away four and 12, as Bangladesh decently closed out the Pakistan innings for 129 for 7.

Pakistan's innings followed the same pattern of their previous games, losing three early wickets. Khurram Manzoor sent to open the batting, played out the first over and then got out for one off the first ball of the second, an Al-Amin delivery that jumped on him outside off-stump. It was the third time in the four Asia Cup matches that Al-Amin had taken a wicket in his first spell. Sharjeel Khan was bowled after missing a slog off Arafat Sunny in the fourth over, after he had faced just eight balls till that point, hitting a four and six.

Mohammad Hafeez was unlucky when he was given out leg-before by umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge when even on the first view, it looked as if the Mashrafe Mortaza delivery was climbing. Replays confirmed that it was yet another erroneous decision by an umpire in the Asia Cup. When Taskin removed Akmal in his second spell, Pakistan ended with the lowest score - 34 for 4 - in the first ten overs against Bangladesh.

Sarfraz Ahmed and Malik then joined hands for a fifth-wicket partnership. Malik struck Shakib for a six that was as straight as an arrow, and also found three fours on the off-side as well as one that was tickled past long-leg. Sarfraz got both his sixes with swings to midwicket, and tucked into fours through covers, midwicket, and mid-on.

Malik was in the groove when he mistimed Sunny to the deep midwicket boundary for 41 off 30 balls. Soon, Sarfraz reached his second T20I fifty with an inside-out blast over cover in the penultimate over.

But it was Mahmudullah's inside-out blast over the covers that would be the most memorable moment of the game, as Bangladesh got themselves to the final of a tournament that they were fearing a bit more than the World T20 itself.

Courtesy : ESPN CricInfo

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