Follow UsThe senior batters of the Bangladesh team have come under serious scrutiny after they failed to give impetus through their batting in the game against New Zealand in Rawalpindi. Bangladesh lost the game by five wickets and were eliminated along with Pakistan, with India and New Zealand moving ahead from the group into the semifinal.
At one stage, Bangladesh, who were batting first, were in a decent position at 97/3, and had the seniors Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah (who returned after a calf injury) held the middle order from there on, Bangladesh could have hoped to put up a competitive total with Towhid Hridoy and Jake Ali coming after a splendid partnership against India in the last game.
However, Michael Bracewell dismissed both Rahim and Mahumudullah, who ran through the Bangladesh middle order with his 4/26.
When asked if these seniors are automatically selected for the team irrespective of their form (Rahim hasn’t scored an ODI half-century since March 2024), skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto denied such claims.
“There is no automatic choice in this team," Najmul said.
“Soumya bats at the top, and Riyad (Mahmudullah) bhai bats in the lower middle order. So, if Soumya played, we would have had to shuffle our batting order a lot. It was necessary for Riyad bhai to play because, if you look at his last four to five innings, he batted well. So, Riyad bhai was important.”
Mushfiqur, especially is going through a bad run of form and has scored only only 26*, 37*, 1, 0 and 2 in his last five ODI innings. However, it wasn’t a concern for Shanto.
“And I was not worried about Mushfiq bhai's last five innings because his keeping is very important,” Shanto said, deflecting the focus from his senior batter’s lack of runs.
“Over the years, we have seen his contributions to the team. He might have failed in the last three innings, but in the next match, he can make a comeback.
"I don't want to see the two seniors differently. As a team, we did not play the match well. It's not about having sky-high expectations because they are seniors. We did not perform well as a batting group," he said.”
Shanto also pointed out that changing players isn’t required, as Bangladesh's approach is the problem.
“As for changes, I'm not talking about changing players,” the skipper affirmed, who scored a 110 ball 77 in the innings.
“We need to change our mindset, how we contribute to the team and take responsibility while batting. If we keep changing players frequently, playing one batsman today and another tomorrow, it becomes difficult for them. We need to back our resources and take responsibility. There is a gap when it comes to accountability.”
Bangladesh also had a poor run in the ODI World Cup in 2023, after which the board ordered a high-level enquiry into its performance.