Shakib and Tamim Slam Bangladesh's Lack of Aggression in Batting Against India

Bangladesh's top cricketers, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, were disappointed with their team's lack of effort against India in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight game in Antigua.

Shakib scored 11 runs off seven balls after coming in during the 12th over, with Bangladesh needing 121 runs at 14.23 runs per over. He expressed his disappointment about the team's poor performance at the crucial end of the tournament, where they scored only 140 for 8 against Australia and 146 for 8 against India. Despite the easier batting conditions in Antigua, Bangladesh's top order continued to struggle. Shakib said the team didn't even show they were trying to chase India's 196 runs in this game.

We won half of our World Cup matches, but if we had fought harder against India and Australia like we did against South Africa, it could have been a good campaign," Shakib said. "Our batting has been weak throughout the tournament. We scored only 140 in the last game and 146 today. We should have done better today since we knew our target. We couldn't show that we were trying to chase the target. We lacked confidence, and this has been an issue throughout the World Cup.

You need to bring your best game against teams like Australia and India. We lacked skill and strength. We couldn't do the basics for long periods to create pressure. We haven't lived up to our potential as a batting unit. We are capable of scoring big runs. We should have aimed for scores like 175-185 in the last two games on good pitches. Maybe India scored 20 more runs today, but we needed to show intent from the start of our innings. I don't think it was there."

Tamim, speaking as an expert for ESPNcricinfo, also criticized Bangladesh's lack of intent against India. "Our captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, said he should have finished the game, but we never got close. I don't understand why he said that. Our batting has been disappointing throughout the tournament. The team management needs to rethink their approach.

"When your batters are scoring runs, you feel confident chasing totals like 160 or 170. When your batting is struggling, it surprised me that Bangladesh chose to bowl first. Some of their decisions in this game were surprising. People will point fingers.

"Leaving out Taskin Ahmed against India and bringing in an extra batter, Jaker Ali, surprised me. Taskin is the team's vice-captain and a key bowler. Even though he went for runs against Australia, he could have helped us attack India more, especially against players like Shivam Dube, who struggles with short balls. Taskin's pace could have been useful.

"Not giving Mustafizur Rahman the new ball was a missed opportunity. Rohit Sharma has a known weakness against left-arm pace, which we could have exploited. Tanzim Hasan Sakib did well with the new ball in previous matches, but he didn't get it today. Changing the setup for someone else, even when it's working well, doesn't make sense."

The decision to drop Taskin was to strengthen the struggling batting lineup. This has been a long-standing issue, but since arriving in North America last month, the top order has struggled against most bowling attacks. Shakib said that Bangladesh tends to perform better on tricky wickets rather than good batting pitches.

"We don't do well on flat wickets that produce 180-200 runs," Shakib said. "We play better on wickets that produce 130-150 runs because that's what we're used to. Our local batters haven't chased big runs often. This remains a weakness for us."

Tamim explained that Bangladesh batters aren't used to good batting wickets. They mostly play on slow and low surfaces at home, so they struggle on good pitches in ICC tournaments.

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"Bangladesh usually plays on difficult wickets for batters. They can't score freely on good wickets because they aren't used to them. There needs to be a long-term plan for Bangladesh to play on better wickets. They don't get that in Mirpur."

Tamim said that even their main T20 tournament, the Bangladesh Premier League, failed to produce exciting cricket due to the pitches. The focus on winning at home has hurt the batters' development.

He suggested being patient with better pitches so that batters can improve and bowlers can learn to bowl on good batting surfaces.

The BPL is a great tournament, but the pitches haven't excited the crowds. The last two years, scores have been higher, with teams chasing 170-180, but we are too focused on winning at home. If we lose a game on a good wicket, people want to make it spin-friendly. Not just players and coaches, but the board also needs to change this mentality. Let us lose for six months, but let's prepare good wickets where everyone can learn. This is the only way forward for Bangladesh cricket.

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