Bangladesh’s vice-captain, Taskin Ahmed, candidly discussed their team’s batting struggles that led to their elimination from the T20 World Cup 2024 during the super-8 stage. Ahmed highlighted the challenges they faced with the bat, acknowledging that their batting performance fell short of expectations. He emphasized the disappointment felt within the team for not meeting their standards in such a crucial tournament phase. Taskin Ahmed’s insights underscored the need for improvement and reflection as they aim to bounce back stronger in future tournaments.
Bangladesh Failed to Qualify in Semi-Final:
After losing two back-to-back losses in the Super-8 stage, Bangladesh still had little chance of qualifying in the semi-finals but they failed to do that. To qualify for the semi-final, Bangladesh had to chase down 116 runs in 12.1 overs but if they failed to do that within that limited overs then Australia could qualify for the semis. But in that match, Afghanistan completely outplayed Bangladesh. Despite Bangladesh being in a great position to win due to their sudden batting collapse they eventually lost that match. Afghanistan qualified with India from group A to the semi-finals.
Taskin Ahmed on Their Batting Performance in T20 World Cup:
During the tournament, Bangladesh’s batting unit faced challenging conditions, resulting in the lowest collective average among all Super Eight teams. The tough environment for batters highlighted their struggles to perform consistently. This statistic underscores Bangladesh’s difficulties in adapting to the tournament’s demands and maintaining competitive batting form against strong opposition.
Bangladesh’s opening trio struggled to initiate strong starts throughout their innings, with Litton Das being the sole player to score a fifty from those positions. Towhid Hridoy excelled with 153 runs at a strike rate of 128.57, highlighting the team’s best batting performance. However, Shakib (111 runs at 106.73 SR) and Mahmudullah (95 runs at 94.05 SR) couldn’t consistently support him in the middle order.
Taskin said, “The seniors’ off-form had an effect on the team but not off the field. They are great team men. We stayed as a team for 47 days. Everything was fine off the field. It is quite normal that a team will have problems when important players are not in form. I am hopeful that we can recover from this, and play better soon.”
Taskin mentioned that the batters encountered improved pitches upon reaching the West Indies, but noted that this didn’t end Bangladesh’s prolonged batting slump. He remarked that, in his international career, he hadn’t witnessed such a persistent struggle with batting performance from the team.
He further said, “ When you talk about the batting, if you look at the statistics, I think every [teams’] batting department suffered in the USA this time. Bowlers got a lot of help. We got better [batting] wickets in the West Indies. I haven’t seen such a long bad patch for the batters in my ten years playing for Bangladesh. I hope it goes away quickly.”
He added, “We never had great numbers in T20s. We are improving slowly. We cannot just look at minus points; we are in the negative already. We are trying to get a ‘plus’. Your frustration is expected. We will give you a good win. You have to keep faith in us. We will give it our best.”
Taskin Ahmed on Their Bowling Performance:
Taskin played a key role in Bangladesh’s strong bowling performance, even as he returned from injury. Tanzim Hasan and leg-spinner Rishad Hossain led the wicket-taking charts, with Rishad ranking joint-third among the tournament’s top wicket-takers ahead of the final. Taskin noted this success highlights the emergence of talented cricketers from Bangladesh.
He said, “The bowling unit has been doing well for the last few years. We have been consistent. It will keep getting better. Tanzim and Rishad are among the tournament’s top wicket-takers. It is a positive. We have some future stars emerging from Bangladesh. It says that we have ability. What has taken place has hurt us and the fans, especially our inability to win certain matches.”
Taskin expressed disappointment over their last game against Afghanistan, where Bangladesh needed to chase down the target in 12.1 overs to secure a semi-final spot but fell short. He noted the team’s frustration at not meeting this crucial objective despite their best efforts.
He added, “We could have done a lot better. We were all quite disappointed with the last match. We tried to win it in 12 overs, but when we realised it wasn’t possible, we tried to win the game. We still couldn’t win.”
He concluded, “ There are positives from the campaign. Our bowlers did very well throughout the tournament. We qualified to the Super Eight. We won three matches in the T20 World Cup for the first time. So there are positives, but there are negatives too. We are disappointed like the rest of you. We didn’t play up to expectations.”
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and Instagram
