Bangladesh’s Performance in T20 World Cup

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S.W.O.T Analysis

Strengths – Bangladesh have plenty of experienced campaigners in their lineup with captain Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim leading the way with more than 100 appearances in the T20I format. They also have one of the most experienced all-rounders in Shakib-al-Hasan who has enjoyed a distinguished career with the BBL side Melbourne Renegades and thus carries with himself a lot of experience of playing in Australia. In the pace department, Mustafizur Rehman also seems to have found his rhythm back in the last few years.

Weaknesses – In the bowling department, Bangladesh have relied heavily on spinners. The conditions in Australia though won’t make it easy for Bangladeshi spinners. The lack of match-winning fast bowlers might hurt Bangladesh in the tournament.

Opportunities – For Bangladesh, the wait continues to reach the semi-final stage in the ICC tournament. The conditions in Australia might not be in their favour but considering that so many senior players might be appearing in their last T20 World Cup, Bangladesh might want to give a performance to remember for their fans.

Threats – Even on occasions when they were within a sniffing distance of a major accomplishment, Bangladesh were found lacking the killer instinct to seal the deal. Their performance from the quarter-final against India in the 2016 World T20 and the Nidahas Final serve as a reminder that the team has often come up short in seizing the moments.

Bangladesh Team’s Performance

Since their first appearance in the 1999 50 over World Cup in England, there has been no ICC tournament in which Bangladesh haven’t appeared. Yet, apart from one or two upsets, Bangladesh have nothing of note to show when it comes to multilateral tournaments. That’s not to say that they haven’t improved as a cricketing nation. From India to South Africa to even Australia, all top teams have suffered series defeats against Bangladesh when visiting the country. In fact, prior to the 2021 World Cup, Bangladesh romped home to big T20I series wins over Australia and New Zealand at home, raising hopes of a good showing at the World Cup in UAE.

The Bangladeshi fans, however, had to end up disappointed as the Tigers put up yet another dismal show. They began the campaign by losing to Scotland but managed to eke out wins against PNG and Oman to progress to the Super 12s. In Super 12s, their performance went from bad to worse. Not only did they end with 5 out of 5 defeats, but were bowled out for totals of less than 100 twice. Bangladesh’s record in T20 World Cups is nothing to write home about. Unlike the 50-over World Cups where they do end up pulling off a few upsets, Bangladesh haven’t really set the stage on fire in T20 World Cups. They came extremely close to making it to the semi-finals in 2016 but they blew up the chance by losing 3 wickets for no run when needing only a couple of runs to win the match.

Bangladesh, however, will take heart from the fact that they will be in the same group as two other teams from the sub-continent – India and Pakistan, also two teams that they have won a T20I against in the past. Bangladesh find themselves in Group 2 in the Super 12s stage. There is also going to be South Africa in the same group. These four will be joined by two more teams from the qualifiers.