Rewind back to 2007, Bangladesh were bracing themselves for departure to attend the maiden edition of the Twenty20 World Cup.
20-over cricket was still new and controversial, and not all supporters and stakeholders had accepted the smallest format of the game.
The then captain of Bangladesh, Mohammad Ashraful, before leaving Dhaka for host country South Africa had said the team’s ambition was to qualify for the second round of the tournament.
Fast forward 17 years, and Bangladesh are currently playing their ninth T20 World Cup in 2024.
Astonishingly, the side are content to have contested the second round, and more worryingly, it is still their main ambition.
Such has been the pleasure of the team on such achievement that the side’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha ahead of the first Super Eight game had said they have met their target and that anything in the second round or beyond will be an added bonus.
This coming from the Bangladesh coach no less did not go down well in the country’s cricketing arena.
And the discussions only grew louder after Bangladesh conceded two defeats in the Super Eight – by 28 runs [Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method] to Australia in the first match and then to India by 50 runs.
The losses, or their margins, have not been the major talking point.
Since their inception in T20 format, Bangladesh have won only 68 times in 175 attempts – which is around 39%.
The discussion among the fans instead has centered around team development and whether there has been any real progress in Bangladesh cricket in T20 format.
In the 2024 edition, Bangladesh have so far played six games and won three but the side’s ability got exposed when meeting the might of teams like Australia and India.
Bangladesh’s difference with the former champions is vast in all departments.
It is so vast that even the in-form bowling unit of the Tigers got a sound hammering.
All-rounder Shakib al Hasan has been part of all of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup campaigns but while interacting with the media on the side’s progress, or lack of it, he was almost numb.
The left-arm all-rounder, who has been dominating the International Cricket Council rankings for over a decade, said it is the decision makers of cricket in the country who can speak on the progress or how long it will take for Bangladesh team to emerge as a competitive side.
“I don't know how long it will take; I think it's difficult for me to say. I think the decision of the decision makers is important here, like in what perspective we want to see our team. I don't know, the [Bangladesh team] trainer also said the same to us. But what you said about the coach [Hathurusingha], even though he said it I don't think he had that belief or he thought in this way,” said Shakib following their defeat to India at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua Saturday.
“If you look at the result or the performance on the ground, actually we couldn't show any fight. I agree with you that it's disappointing when we played with two big teams [India and Australia], who are maybe the closest contenders for this T20 World Cup. When we played with them, the difference with them was clearly visible. So, it is disappointing to me that we still have such huge gaps. We are playing in this format, as the T20 World Cup happens every two years, there is an opportunity to reflect quickly on it. So, from that perspective, of course, it is disappointing. It is difficult to say when this (progress) will happen but we will have to leave it to time,” said Shakib, who has played 128 T20 Internationals.
Bangladesh in their last game of the Super Eight stage will face Afghanistan at Arnos Vale Stadium in Saint Vincent Monday.
Australia losing to Afghanistan by 21 runs has triggered ifs and buts of Bangladesh’s chances of making it to the semis of the tournament.
But let’s not make it another occasion where the chief agenda gets derailed – Bangladesh cricket needs to learn to play the T20 game.
