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Follow UsWith Bangladesh already out of contention for a place in the World Cup semi-final, it would be worth remembering how they started the tournament. In fact, even before their campaign got underway, two of their senior players were at loggerheads.
Shakib Al Hasan, who took over as Bangladesh’s ODI captain in August, lashed out at his predecessor Tamim Iqbal as the southpaw was reluctant to bat down the order “for the sake of the team."
Shakib termed Tamim “childish”, who was eventually left out of the squad as he did not want to be slotted in the middle-order.
"Someone like Rohit Sharma built his career from No. 7 to opener, scored 10,000-plus runs. If he sometimes bats at No 3 or 4, would it be a big problem?” Shakib had questioned.
While comparing the situation to Rohit's would certainly be far-fetched, it is now abundantly clear that Tamim did have a point. Why would a team that has had Tamim open his entire life now bat him at three or four?
Remember India’s disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign, where Sachin Tendulkar batted at four in the lead-up to it? Even someone like Virender Sehwag had to bat at three. The sudden rejig played a key role in India’s ouster from the mega event.
Which brings us back to the topic at hand – was Tamim really the childish one?
Shakib has stuck to his guns this World Cup and has fiddled with the batting line-up like no other team. When Bangladesh got off to the perfect start against Afghanistan, everything seemed well.
The Bangladesh captain had just gone past Daniel Vettori to become the most successful left-arm spinner in World Cup history. But that is as good as things got for them.
The constant chopping and changing of the batting line-up has seldom worked out well for any side. What that tells you is the batters do not have a clear role in the side. They are forced to don a different hat every match. For instance, there is no valid justification for Mehidy Hasan Miraz to bat in five different positions in seven matches. Or why would Mahmudullah bat in four different positions in five innings?
You rewind to four years ago to the World Cup in England, Bangladesh had a far-settled unit. Shakib batted at No. 3 in all the matches, Mushfiqur Rahim at No. 4, Mahmudullah at No. 6 and Mosaddek Hossain at No. 7.
That worked wonders as Bangladesh went on to beat South Africa, West Indies, and Afghanistan and also managed to push New Zealand and Australia close.
Shakib, and in fact, the entire team, has often blamed the batting for letting them down in the 2023 World Cup. They have lost as many as 16 wickets in the first powerplay – the most for any team – and they have scored at just 4.6 runs in the phase – the worst in the tournament – to make matters dire.
Such has been Bangladesh’s poor show with the bat that Shakib, who has contributed to just 8.6% of the team’s runs this time, is not even the worst among his teammates - a massive contrast to what he and the team had achieved in 2019 - scoring nearly 27% of his team’s runs.
This, in turn, has further validated Tamim’s point. "I have been playing for 17 years in the same [opening] position. I have never batted at No. 3 or 4. I have no experience of batting in the middle order. So naturally, I didn't take this conversation well,” Tamim had said when he was asked to play in the middle-order at the World Cup.
Bangladesh have been the most expensive bowling unit in this edition (Econ 6.1) after Sri Lanka (6.4) and Pakistan (6.3). Moreover, they have taken 43.5 deliveries per wicket (the worst) and 43.9 runs apart (worst after Sri Lanka). They have picked up just 42 wickets overall, which is the lowest. In addition, at no phase have their bowlers clearly dominated.
While they may have the worst bowling unit, they certainly have been the best spin-bowling unit this World Cup, having picked up 23 wickets at 35.6. Shakib’s contribution to that – seven wickets at 38.9 in six matches – is pretty much on par with what he achieved in the 2019 edition. It is surprising that he has not completely dominated the opposition with the ball, given the conditions are far more suitable than they were in England.
Sadly, it is his and his side’s collective batting that has let him down.
Like Afghanistan, the spinners have been at the forefront of their success over the years. But what Afghanistan have gone on to do better than Bangladesh is that they have worked on their batting, and Jonathan Trott, their head coach, has been the pioneer behind their rise.
Bangladesh, unfortunately, have not taken that road.
If Shakib’s performances in the Asia Cup are anything to go by, one might think that the veteran cricketer was ready, having managed 173 runs at 43.25 (SR 97.2). It was his bowling that let him down, but the pacers, Taskin Ahmed (9 wickets), Shoriful Islam (7) and Hasan Mahmud (4) made up for it.
However, that has not been the case in the World Cup. While their spinners have done the job for them, they have found absolutely no support from the pacers.
Shakib’s ability to play the short balls has also been contrasting, to say the least. He has been dismissed by pacers on all six occasions so far, all to short deliveries.
In 2019, though, not one such delivery brought upon his downfall, which is a true testament to how well he played in conditions that actually favoured the quicks.
Many times he had a chance to curb his instincts and perhaps let it go, but Shakib went for them and paid the price. Against New Zealand, just when he looked set, he mistimed a short ball off Lockie Ferguson to deep square-leg, against the Netherlands, he cut a back-of-length delivery from Paul van Meekeren to Scott Edwards, coming in to bat at 45 for 3, chasing a modest 230.
Most recently, against Pakistan, he came as low as No. 6 and got 43 and with Mehidy batting as low as eight, he had a chance to help his side to potentially 250 or even more. But once again, he succumbed to a short one, this time from Haris Rauf.
His persistence to play the short ball could have been overlooked on a couple of occasions had he learnt his lesson. But Shakib was too stubborn to learn from them and does not rub off well on others who look up to senior players like him.
In fact, credit has to be given to the opposition for identifying the southpaw’s weakness and exploiting it to their advantage.
Shakib’s forgettable tourney with the bat, an average effort with the ball, and plenty of questionable decisions have ended Bangladesh’s World Cup dreams. From a historic quarter-final finish in 2015 to punching above their weight in 2019, Bangladesh in 2023 shows that there is still a long way to go before they can be taken seriously in world events.
Shakib, who once was deemed the hero of the country, has now taken them to a new low.
