Batting has been a constant disappointment for Bangladesh in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup as the top-order consistently failed to produce a solid start in the first powerplay.
The Tigers have played six games so far in the global event and on every occasion lost early wickets, feeling the pressure straightaway.
Even if someone managed to get set and survive the initial overs, he failed to convert those starts into a big knock and more significantly, score at a strike rate of 150+.
In T20 Internationals, when one has played 20-25 odd balls at the top-order, it means that he or she is well set having faced almost four overs of the entire innings, and the team require a 50-plus innings from the batter, particularly on a good surface.
But in Bangladesh’s case, batters were unable to capitalize and lost wickets whereas at those points, the situation demanded boundaries and over boundaries from a well-set batsman.
Bangladesh played their first two matches in the USA where batting was relatively difficult as every team struggled to score handsomely.
The Tigers won a thriller against Sri Lanka in Dallas and almost pulled off a famous victory against South Africa in New York and both games were played on slow tracks.
Against the Netherlands in Saint Vincent, Bangladesh managed to get past 150, which is their highest total (159) in this edition, and later it was again a low-scoring encounter against Nepal.
The Tigers emerged victorious in both games at Arnos Vale Stadium.
But when Bangladesh played on true batting wickets, like at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua against Australia and India, their defensive approach or lack of intent to unleash proper attacking shots got exposed.
If one were to look back at the four innings from Bangladesh’s last two games against Australia and India then the batters’ negative approach would be clearly evident.
Antigua has been a venue for high-scoring totals in this T20 World Cup as every team are getting plenty of runs.
But Bangladesh’s top-order’s overcautious approach while batting against the Aussie bowling line-up saw them post only 140 in the end.
Liton Das scored only 16 while facing 25 deliveries, and even failed to score any run off his first nine balls. In total he gave away 15 dot balls in his innings.
As a top-order batter, playing more than four overs and scoring just 16 was not acceptable at all.
Even Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who made 41, played 36 balls, meaning he gobbled up six overs from the 20 and added just 40 odd to the tally on a true batting wicket with 113.88 strike rate which was not up to the mark either.
In contrast to Liton and Shanto’s slow knocks, when Australian openers batted, they came out with a proper approach as David Warner hammered an unbeaten 53 off 35 balls (strike rate 151.42) and Travis Head 31 off 21 (strike rate 147.61).
That’s the main difference with regards to approach.
Warner also played almost six overs but his strike rate was more than 150 compared to Shanto’s 113, while Head batted for 3.5 overs with a strike rate of 147, in comparison to Liton’s 64.
Same defensive approach was seen in the India game.
Opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim gathered 29 runs but faced 31 balls, more than five overs, which was disappointing while chasing a total of 197.
Shanto garnered 40 again but played out 32 deliveries to score those runs (strike rate 125) which was not what the Tigers were looking for from their skipper.
If we glance at India’s batting scorecard, we would notice each and every batter scoring runs in proper T20 style, and that’s the main difference in batting between these two sides.
Just imagine the likes of powerhouses England, the West Indies, South Africa or even Afghanistan.
If any of their top-order batter plays 30-40 odd balls on a track conducive for stroke-making, more often than not he would gradually increase the strike rate.
Surely it would not be around 110 or 115.
But Bangladesh are scoring runs around 115-120 strike rate even on a solid batting track which ultimately does not bode well for the team’s chances.
If the batters do not change their approach in near future then Bangladesh will be no match in modern day T20I cricket where making runs at 140 or 150 strike rate on a good batting surface is par.
With this kind of batting style in T20Is, Bangladesh will always be easy targets for competitive sides and results like the recent shocking series loss to USA will be more and more prevalent.
