A largely positive tour
The Bangladesh team returned yesterday from a T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka battered, bruised and weary, but they returned with their cricketing reputation bearing a new sheen. On Sunday, it was just one ball and one hammer blow that separated a maiden multi-nation silverware from the Tigers' grasp, but Bangladesh reaching and nearly winning the final was not the only sign of a team growing in stature on the field even as foundations remain shaky off it.
Their departure for the Nidahas Trophy at the beginning of this month was one tinged with despair after they had lost in all formats to Sri Lanka at home. It was then thought that with T20Is being Bangladesh's weakest suit, there was not a snowball's chance in hell that they would get much joy against a confident Sri Lanka at home and a well-drilled India team that, though missing many of their stars, was a cut above.
That they managed to beat Sri Lanka twice, in stirring fashion each time, and almost beat India in the final is testament to the players' resolve and, at long last, some awareness about the demands of the shortest format of the game.
TIGERS GET SMART
After overseeing the Test and T20I series losses to Sri Lanka at home in his stand-in leadership role, Mahmudullah Riyad had seemed defiant when he broke from country tradition in refusing to say that Bangladesh batsmen were not able to hit big shots in the shortest format. He insisted instead that his batsmen were able to punish the wayward balls by playing smartly and that is what he and Mushfiqur Rahim did in the two defeats of Sri Lanka.
Mushfiqur's 35-ball 72 was the innings that started the fire as he remained unbeaten while guiding Bangladesh to their highest successful T20I chase of 215 against Sri Lanka in their second league game. True to Mahmudullah's words, the match was won by smart and skilful batting that relied on Mushfiqur knowing clearly where the fielders were and what his options were. Mahmudullah practised what he preached in the next game against Sri Lanka -- one memory that will stick from that game is the one-handed lofted boundary to extra cover off a ball quite wide outside off stump when 12 runs were needed from the last four balls. It was a shot that would not have come naturally to a batsman if he did not have a blueprint of the field set in his mind's eye.
SUPPORT CAST FLICKERS TO LIFE
It is no secret that the likes of Shakib, Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and Tamim Iqbal do most of the heavy lifting, but happily, in the Nidahas Trophy the youngsters stepped up. Liton Das hit a fabulously aggressive 43 in that record chase against Sri Lanka; Mehedi Hasan Miraz, for the most part, did the job of bowling spin with the new ball admirably; pacer Mustafizur Rahman, while often expensive, showed signs that he may be getting back to his best, not least in conceding just one run in the 18th over which started with India needing 35 off three in the final. Last but not least, Sabbir Rahman ignored a clock quickly running out and stroked a classy 50-ball 77 in the all-important final.
There is still much for the youngsters to reach the levels of their seniors, but the Nidahas Trophy was certainly a step in the right direction.
NOT ALL ROSY
However, problems remain and the BCB will do well to address them. Shakib's outburst in the final league game, which Mahmudullah won with a six off the penultimate ball against Sri Lanka, is one of the lowest points of the tournament. That a captain would see it fit to call the batsmen off after an umpiring error points to a lack of discipline in the dressing room and the sooner they can net a head coach who will rule with a firm hand, the better.
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