Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan on Saturday (May 4) expressed concern over the preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup, saying it was not optimal as there were no matches against top teams in the lead-up to the tournament. He emphasized the importance of competing against strong opponents for better preparedness and performance. Shakib’s comments underline the team’s desire for more challenging practice matches to hone their skills and strategies ahead of the prestigious event, and recognize the need to improve their preparation despite current restrictions on scheduling high-profile matches.
Bangladesh’s T20WC preparation:
Bangladesh is preparing for the upcoming world event through a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe and will then face the USA in a three-match series. In its preparation for the 2022 T20 World Cup, Bangladesh took part in a tri-nations series with New Zealand and Pakistan. Despite failing to win the series, Bangladesh showed resilience and competitive spirit. This year, the team aims to use these opportunities to refine its game and build momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup, emphasizing the value of competitive games against different opponents in improving its skills and strategies.
Shakib Al Hasan on this preparation:
Referring to Bangladesh’s ongoing T20I series against Zimbabwe for the upcoming T20I World Cup, Bangladesh player Shakib Al Hasan said, “It would be wrong if we think about the World Cup taking into account our performance against Zimbabwe and USA.” The World Cup will be held in a different location and the better we can handle pressure, the better chance we have of doing well.”
He continued: “At the last World Cup we performed decently and although we didn’t do particularly well, no one will say we did badly.” If that is our benchmark then we have a chance of achieving it “We want to surpass this World Cup and if we want to achieve that we have to win three games in the first round.”
He added: “A big reason to play against the USA is to get used to their conditions and learn about the place because there aren’t too many players who have played in the USA. “Very much Few have the experience of playing there in Florida (2018) and we will get used to the conditions by playing in this series, but at the same time I would say this is not ideal (preparation-wise).”
He further replied, “In Australia (T20 World Cup in 2022) we played against New Zealand and Pakistan and so we certainly went to the World Cup based on very good preparation and if you take that into account, it’s not ideal.” But that is the best we can do to prepare.”
Shakib Al Hasan expressed his dissatisfaction with BCB’s decision-makers and said it would have been more beneficial to convert the Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier League, Bangladesh’s traditional List A tournament, into a shorter format. He believed that this adjustment could have better prepared the players for T20 cricket and better adapted their competitive experience to the upcoming format and requirements of the ICC T20 World Cup. Bangladesh faces heat wave; Playing 50 overs felt extreme.
He concluded: “It would have been better if the Super League (DPL) was played in T20 format.” “It is inhumane to stay in the ground all day in this heat,” he remarked. “It could be handled more responsibly. The T20 World Cup is ahead and in that case it would have been helpful for the national team. Somehow it didn’t happen.”
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