Bangladesh. (Photo Source: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite being one of the powerhouses of ODI cricket at home, Bangladesh have struggled to live up to its potential in the recently concluded Cricket World Cup 2023. The conditions in India were more or less the same as in Bangladesh and hence, a better outcome was expected. However, the Shakib Al Hasan-led side struggled with consistency as they finished eighth on the points table, which infuriated the fans back home.
They were at the bottom of the table at one point and were on the verge of missing out on the qualification for the Champions Trophy 2025. However, the Bangla Tigers managed to defeat Sri Lanka in their penultimate game in the marquee tournament to seal their spot in the tournament. There was a nice blend of experience and youth in the team but they lacked character as the skipper himself wasn’t at his usual self in the majority of the matches while Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim, two experienced campaigners struggled throughout.
Meanwhile, to assess the team’s performance in the tournament, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have now appointed a three-member committee, which includes director Enayet Hossain Siraj, Mahbubul Anam and Akram Khan. The aim is to identify the mistakes and to start the process of rectifying them before the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is slated to take place in June 2024.
“The committee’s objective is to scrutinize the factors contributing to the team’s underperformance in the tournament and it will subsequently present its findings to the Board,” BCB said in a statement on Wednesday.
Notably, Bangladesh had a campaign to forget and courtesy of which, there might be a few changes in the set-up going forward. They started with a win over Afghanistan but then lost six matches on the trot, which pushed them away from the race as the Shakib Al Hasan-led side was also the first team to be eliminated from the competition. They finished their campaign with an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia, which once again didn’t impress the supporters.