In the recent India-Pakistan match in the Asia Cup, both teams had to keep five players inside the 30-yeard circle for the final seven overs of the innings, one extra than what’s usually permitted after the first six overs in T20s.
Both teams had incurred an ‘in-match penalty’ after failing to be on course to start the final over of the innings at scheduled time.
This rule, which has been set in T20s by the ICC in this year’s January, put Pakistan in a difficult spot in the final overs of the match. Indian batsmen took advantage of the one less fielder in the boundary lines and completed the nervy chase in the final over.
Both Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam were caught off guard by the new rule. But Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s newly appointed captain in T20Is, is well aware of it and made sure his team prepared accordingly in the build-up to the tournament.
In an intra-squad match in Dhaka before the Asia Cup, Shakib made sure both teams finished well within the set time and avoided the penalty.
These are the little things that set the fate of a tight contest, Bangladesh, in the past, have suffered due to falling behind on these finer margins. Now with Shakib at the helm, who is widely regarded as the smartest cricketer in the Bangladesh team, hopes are that the team will no longer lose these small battles inside the match, which ends up costing them dearly in the end.
The Tigers are set to begin their Asia Cup campaign on Tuesday against an in-form Afghanistan team. In the bowling department, Bangladesh don’t have the variety of their Afghan counterparts while in the batting department they are lagging behind in terms of firepower.
To win against a team that is almost built to win T20s in UAE conditions, Bangladesh need to not only play out of their skin but also make full use of their resources and try to outsmart their opponents.
Bangladesh entered the tournament with a less than ideal preparation, with Shakib being handed the captaincy after the ‘Betwinner debacle’ and head coach Russell Domingo being relieved of his duties in T20s less than 10 days before the team left for the Asia Cup.
But even then, the Bangladesh team is showing signs of adopting a different, more methodic and stats-driven approach, compared to the old tried and failed ‘Bangladeshi brand of cricket'.
Bangladesh’s woes against Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan are nothing new as the Afghan wrist spinner has taken 14 wickets in seven T20Is against the Tigers at an economy rate of 5.53.
To combat that, they flew in young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain to the UAE as a net bowler.
The newly appointed technical consultant of the Bangladesh T20 team Sridharan Sriram also spoke about how Bangladesh is one of the best in the world in T20Is in terms of claiming the first three wickets of the opponents.
The Indian coach wants the team to keep doing what they are doing well and the rest will take care of itself.
The main reason behind Bangladesh’s good performance with the ball early on is their finger spinners, Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan, who often open the attack for Bangladesh.
At the UAE, the two off-spinners could prove handy in keeping Afghanistan quiet in the powerplay overs.
The main challenge for the Tiger batters will be the Afghan spinners. But Afghanistan showed in their tournament opener against Sri Lanka that their pace attack of Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq could be a handful.
To combat that and to score runs more quickly up the order, Bangladesh are flirting with the idea of sending someone like Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan or even Mushfiqur Rahim as opener.
The management has already guaranteed that Afif Hossain will bat at number four, in a bid to instil more urgency in the middle order.
The plans are in place and the intent to change the status quo in T20 is also apparent. But the main onus will be on captain Shakib. Shakib will have to bear pressure from three ends, as a top-order batter, the team’s most reliable bowler and also the leader.
For Bangladesh to win their campaign opener and go far in the tournament, a lot has to go to plan. But first and foremost, Shakib has to be at his very best with the bat, with the ball and as the skipper.