Follow UsBangladesh enter a crucial tie against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, with their campaign hanging by a thread. They will have to beat New Zealand to stay alive in the competition.
Amid this, the fact that their top order has not been in good form is certainly a cause for concern. Their top four have managed to score at an average of 30.2 and have lost a wicket in 36.2 deliveries—the worst among full-members in ODis since 2023.
However, their head coach, Phil Simmons, has brushed aside such concerns.
"I'm not concerned about their form. I just think that we need to assess and put together our batting in the first 10 overs a little bit better than we've done. The middle order and the lower order have done really well. So, it's up to us as top-order batsmen to put things together. In the first 10-15 overs especially," Simmon said ahead of the New Zealand clash.
Bangladesh have good memories at Rawalpindi, having beaten beaten Pakistan 2-0 in a Test series. Does that give the team some sort of positivity going into this tie?
"I hope it does because to come into Pakistan and beat Pakistan is not an easy thing, and it gave them a lot of confidence. I hope it has a significant bearing on how they think about this ground," Simmons said.
Bangladesh have scored 300 in three out of their last five matches, and Simmons believes they can do the job in crunch situations as well. However, he is aware that they have not really successfully chased big totals, which they might have to do in this match.
"Well, in the last five matches, we've gone to 300 a couple of times, so we have the ability to do it. In the last game [agianst India] we didn't start well and we got to 200, so as long as we start well, we can get there," Simmons said.
"We scored 300 but they [opposition] scored 300-plus. That's how the game is, you have to restrict them also. So, we didn't bowl well enough in those games."
Bangladesh lost the previous game against India by six wickets, but other than the loss itself, they suffered a massive blow even before the match as Mahmudullah was ruled out due to a calf injury.
Speaking of the combination, Simmons says it will all depend on Mahmudullah's availability. "We're thinking a lot of different things," Simmons said, speaking of the team combination.
"The first thing is, as we said before, we have to find out if [Mahmudullah] Riyad is fit and then we can know how to balance out the team again after that. So, when practice is finished today we'll know a little bit more, we'll have a look at the wicket and everything like that - so final decisions will be made later this evening."
New Zealand started the tournament with a 60-run win over Pakistan. A win here will put them in the driver's seat for semi-final qualification.