All five opponents of Bangladesh for the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in Australia have been fixed and the Tigers will now face the Netherlands in their first game and Zimbabwe in the third in the Super 12 stage in the coming weeks.
The qualifiers went to the wire in the last seven days as Sri Lanka’s loss against Namibia and the West Indies’ loss against Scotland made both the groups wide open and created chances for all the teams to qualify for the Super 12.
Bangladesh are in Group 2 with India, Pakistan and South Africa in the Super 12 and there was a possibility Sri Lanka and the Windies would have joined them in this group.
And that could have made this the group of death.
But the Dutch instead qualified as A2 from Group A and Zimbabwe advanced from Group B as B1.
And that means Bangladesh have a great opportunity to start their account in this T20 World Cup on a positive note as, on paper, Bangladesh are much stronger than the Netherlands.
Bangladesh’s performance in the previous seven T20 World Cups showcase their struggles in this format as they managed just one win in the group stages – against the West Indies back in 2007.
But with opponents like the Netherlands and Zimbabwe it gives the Tigers a good chance to improve their record tally in the global edition of T20I format.
The Tigers can definitely target at least two wins from the Super 12 phase.
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Although both the Netherlands and Zimbabwe progressed as deserving teams in the Super 12 and are in good rhythm, Bangladesh are in far better position (ninth) in the latest ICC T20I ranking compared to Zimbabwe (11th) and the Dutch (17th) and fans can certainly hope that the Tigers will come out victorious and find some much needed form.
Obviously, Bangladesh can win against tougher opponents like South Africa, India and Pakistan but considering the strength of these teams and their recent form, they are way ahead of the Tigers in T20I format.
The challenges are stiff as the Tigers are yet to find a steady opening pair and batting order after experimenting with several options in recent games prior to the T20 World Cup.
The Tigers lost all the matches in Asia Cup 2022, then won two games against the United Arab Emirates and later suffered four consecutive losses in the tri-nation T20I series just prior to the mega event.
They even suffered a thrashing against Afghanistan in the practice match last week which created more doubts among fans with regards to having a good tournament on Australian soil.
The new-look team are still searching for the right combination to produce some good results.
But hopes are abound that Bangladesh will start afresh from this year’s global event and the first step will be a good start against the Netherlands in Hobart which will inject belief to the young Bangladesh squad of advancing further in the tournament.