Bangladesh's 3-0 triumph over the reigning Twenty20 world champions England might have come as a surprising outcome for cricket fans around the world, but Bangladesh players played dominant cricket on sporting wickets, exploited England's depleted batting order with thrilling performances and achieved well-deserved results.
It will be a series to remember for the Tigers and there are plenty of positives to take in terms of the composition of the T20 side with an eye on the next T20 World Cup in 2024 in the West Indies and USA.
Team selection, practice pattern, set of goals, executing plans on the field, winning important battles to turn the momentum and holding nerves in crucial moments, among other aspects were good signs for Bangladesh cricket.
Carrying this momentum in future will hopefully usher the dawn of a new era for the Tigers in this format which was long overdue.
Surprises in team selection
The national team selection panel made a statement early by picking a relatively young squad for the England T20Is. All the players who performed well in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (country's premier T20 tournament) were called up like Rony Talukdar, Tanvir Islam, Towhid Hridoy and Hasan Mahmud. The squad, led by Shakib al Hasan, looked like a team for the future and Bangladesh Cricket Board certainly has a specific plan for the 2024 T20 World Cup and this particular squad reflects their planning as probably these set of players will be given enough chances in coming series to form a good T20 team.
Right approach to play T20
The first match was in Chittagong and England produced a decent total of 150-plus runs on the board. But while chasing, the most encouraging part was Bangladesh batsmen's positive intent. Against England's world-class pace attack comprising Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan, Tigers batters batted confidently and aggressively. Even after losing a wicket, when there was a ball to hit then the following batsman did not hesitate to hit it for boundary. Most notable mention can be Nazmul Hossain Shanto's four consecutive boundaries against Wood, who was bowling at 90-plus miles per hour at that moment. That's the kind of flare that was missing from Bangladesh batters in T20Is for a long time.
Comeback in crunch moments
Bangladesh made quite a few turnarounds in this series during crunch moments of the game, which was impressive as well as usually Bangladesh as a T20 team missed these plots in the last few years. Tigers' brilliant bowling in the last five overs in the first game in Chittagong, keeping cool in a tricky chase in Mirpur in the second match, and turning the third game around when England were cruising on 100 for one; these comebacks look promising and will definitely boost this young squad for future series.
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Excellent fielding display
When Chandika Hathurusingha took over the job of head coach of the national team for the second time, he mentioned to the media that one of his goals will be to convert Bangladesh into a better fielding unit. And that intention showed clearly in the whole series as Tigers fielders were energetic and brilliant overall with ground fielding and catching. The pinnacle of this fielding display was Mehedi Hasan Miraz's direct throw to run out Jos Buttler in the third match when England were coasting. That effort changed the course of the game and this kind of fielding brilliance can win matches against any team. After the series skipper Shakib said they are probably one of the best fielding teams in Asia now but they want to improve their fielding more.
Pacers shine and create more impact
When Bangladesh defeated Australia and New Zealand in rank turners in T20I home series back in 2021, it created some negative impact. But this England series saw two good batting tracks out of three games and interestingly, Bangladesh pacers bowled brilliantly and made more impact in contrast to the usual dependency on spin bowling. Tigers pace trio Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan bowled superbly and initiated huge impact. Even Shakib opted for pacers from both ends in the second match which came as a surprise as usually spinners rule in Mirpur wickets. Cases in point were Hasan's performance in the death overs of the first match, his wicket-taking delivery against Buttler in second game, and Taskin and Mustafizur's match altering spells in the third game. Overall these impacts from pacers will go a long way in helping make Bangladesh a world-class class bowling unit.
Shakib's brilliant captaincy
Shakib as a leader was sharp and spot on throughout the series and made some bold calls. Keeping the faith on Hasan in the slog overs of the first game, despite the fact that he was hammered in his first two overs, was a good call as the right-arm pacer only gave away five runs in the 17th and 19th over. During a tricky chase in the second match, Miraz was sent ahead of Shakib in the batting order and Miraz's 20 runs with two sixes was vital in the context of the game. The field placings and bowling changes were effective and credit should be given to Shakib for managing his resources in a proper way in order to produce results.
What Shakib said after winning the series
Shakib praised the whole team for the great success against the world champions, rather than mention two-three performers, and their overall approach of playing against a big gun like England. “Our bowling unit was quite good in this series. Bowlers win you T20 matches, so having that extra bowler was helpful. We have a few more areas for tuning, thinking ahead to the next T20 World Cup, but we have made a good start. Everyone noticed our fielding in these three matches. We out-fielded England, who are themselves a good fielding side. It is a big tick mark. Our biggest improvement is in our fielding, when I consider every aspect. We should always field well, but we have targeted to become the best fielding side in Asia. After this performance, I don't think we are too far behind," said Shakib.
*photos: AFP
