On crutches, but hopeful

While top teams, especially the ones who have been successful in this World Cup so far, seem to have proper clarity over their game plan, Bangladesh have looked drab and confused in formulating strategies in the mega event in India.

Struggles in the batting department have been a constant for Bangladesh in recent ODIs, mainly due to the failure of the top order which in turn has led to simultaneous shuffling in the batting order.

However, skipper Shakib Al Hasan, speaking to the media yesterday for the first time since being in India for the mega event, backed the constant shuffling in the batting order in all the first four matches of the World Cup.

"The reason to promote [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz up the order was mainly because he smashed a century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. So, we decided he would bat up the order against them," Shakib clarified the reason behind sending Miraz up the order against Afghanistan.

That ploy from the team management worked as Miraz scored a fifty and Bangladesh got off to a winning start in the tournament. However, it only went downhill for the Tigers since then as they suffered three big-margin defeats against England, New Zealand, and hosts India.

The India defeat saw Bangladesh come under heavy scrutiny as they failed to utilisie the Tigers' best-ever opening stand in the World Cup, set by Liton Das and Tanzid Hasan Tamim in their last game against India last week, mostly due to the team management's decision of sending Miraz up the order.

As Bangladesh had already gotten a solid start against India, questions were raised whether sending Mushfiqur Rahim, the team's leading scorer in the World Cup so far, would have made more sense considering his experience and well-known capability of rotating the strike.

"Some of our established batters are batting a bit lower down the order, but is there a guarantee that they will score higher up the order? These are difficult and tricky decisions that we have to make," Shakib was skeptical of the notion that promoting Mushfiqur up the order might have worked in Bangladesh's favour.

"It has mixed results. I think we still had chances to score 280-290 runs in all three matches. Only [Mahmudullah] Riyad bhai batted well till the end. I don't think you can criticise that. Riyad bhai is doing well but if we bring him up and he can't perform out of his usual position, then we will all feel about it," he added, hinting that the spontaneity in the batting order might continue even in the upcoming matches.

Jaker Ali Anik produced one of the finest knocks for Bangladesh in T20Is, but in the end there was a hint of regret as the Tigers fell short by three runs in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Sylhet on Monday.

Sylhet's home boy Jaker showed composure and execution to keep the equation tantalisingly close after Sri Lanka had mustered 206. Yet, despite a shabby start, the hosts were in fact ahead of the visitors in terms of runs after the 16th over was bowled during the chase.

Jaker made the impossible look realistic in the death overs after Mahmudullah Riyad's dismissal saw the Tigers lose their fifth wicket for 115 runs in the 14th over.

Mahmudullah, who had struck a 31-ball 54, had initially kept any semblance of hope after Bangladesh stuttered to 68 for four in the ninth over.

"Riyad bhai told me to bat normally. I didn't have any extra plans," Jaker said at the post-match press conference.

"He was getting boundaries with calculative risks. It freed me up. It made life easier for me," the 26-year-old added.

Jaker raced to 50 off 25, initially scoring 11 off his first 10 deliveries when Mahmudullah was there.

"When Riyad bhai was taking chances, my plan was to ensure that we would get 10 or 12 runs in an over. This was my role with Riyad bhai at the crease. I shifted my gear after he got out," Jaker said.

He was immense, particularly taking on Matheesha Pathirana as he and Mahedi Hasan added 65 for the sixth wicket.

Jaker comes from a sporting family and interestingly, his sister Shakila Boby, who was Habiganj district women's team's captain, had attended the game and was at the press conference as a local journalist. His sister asked a question about the home crowd cheering him on.

"Apu, I have always loved playing at this venue. I made my first-class debut on this ground. I know the wicket and atmosphere of this place. It was all good but it would have been great had we won the game," he replied.

The lower-order batter had been mentally preparing himself for his national team call-up but was not too pleased at not getting the victory.

"[Najmul Hossain] Shanto told me to be mentally prepared when Aliss Al Islam got injured. I was prepared for what was to come.

"If I had scored 10 or 12 runs in a winning effort, I would have been more pleased. I played well but a win would have made me happier," he said.

But Jaker's innings would help Tigers to take the blow on the chin with two more T20Is left.

"Losing is always heart-breaking. I didn't sleep the night after losing the BPL final. I would have felt great if we could have won today. I am planning for the next match already. We can take plenty of positives from today's game," he said.

The final over made the difference as Bangladesh could not manage 12 runs after Jaker left.

"I was on strike when we needed 10 off the last four balls. I was confident that we could win the game. I was playing a good innings. I didn't connect the ball and it went to hand," he defined the fine margins of an agonising defeat for the Tigers.

Mahmudullah Riyad became the fourth Bangladesh batter to reach the 5,000 ODI runs landmark as Bangladesh were building around a half-century from Najmul Hossain Shanto in the third and final match against New Zealand in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Mahmudullah, the right-handed batter, reached the milestone in the 16th over by taking a single off Lockie Ferguson.

Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim are the three other batters to have reached the milestone before Mahmudullah for Bangladesh.

Mahmudullah was batting on 10 with Shanto, the stand-in skipper on 51, as Bangladesh reached 112 for 4 after 21 overs.

Bangladesh selector Habibul Bashar is "confident" of seeing Tamim Iqbal fit to play the upcoming white-ball New Zealand series, sandwiched between the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup, at home in late September.  

Tamim is currently undergoing rehabilitation after injury forced the opening batter to step down as ODI captain, leading to him getting sidelined from the Asia Cup squad. Bashar considers Tamim's experience invaluable for the Tigers. 

"Tamim is working hard and trying a lot to make a comeback. I think he will return before time. I am confident of getting him back in the New Zealand series," Habibul told reporters in Mirpur today.

"We need Tamim very much for the World Cup. Tamim's experience, Tamim's performance is very necessary for us to do well," added the former Bangladesh captain. 

Asked about another experienced player, Mahmudullah Riyad, who could not make it into the 17-member side despite many suggesting his experience could have aided the side in such a big tournament, Bashar chose to take a different route this time.  

"I think the question has been asked many times before. This question has been cleared many times before. It's good to think about the Asia Cup team we have now and prepare our plans around them."

"This many people usually don't turn up to see a fitness test at six in the morning. I'm sure they are here because it's happening at the Bangabandhu [National] Stadium," said Shahriar Nafees, the current cricket operations manager, after the national team's fitness test at the famed venue yesterday. 

Thirty-five cricketers turned up at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) yesterday before 6:00 am for a physical assessment test, which required them to run a 1600m race in the newly installed athletic tracks.

This running session was the first professional cricket-related activity at the venue since January 31, 2015. The BNS did host the inauguration ceremony of the ODI World Cup in 2011, but there was no on-field cricketing activity at the venue.

Although the BNS has been a football stadium since 2006, it remains a venue deeply rooted in cricketing history.

Even before Bangladesh came into existence, this venue hosted Pakistan's inaugural Test match against India in 1955. A total of seven Tests took place at BNS, which was then called the Dhaka Stadium, in the pre-independence period where many legends of the game graced the venue. Bangladesh's Test journey also began here in November 2000 against India.

It is only the second cricket stadium after Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which hosted the first ever Test between England and Australia in 1877, to host the inaugural Test of two nations.

Other than Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim, none of the other cricketers present at the BNS yesterday have ever played at the venue. Even Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur's experience is quite limited, with the former playing here in a domestic tournament back in 2004 and the latter taking part in some age-level cricket.

For Shahriar and the current team manager Nafees Iqbal, however, memories of their playing days at the venue came rushing back once they stepped out on the field.

Nafees' lone Test century came at the venue in 2004, when he batted almost eight hours for his 121, which ensured a draw for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe and, in the process, their maiden Test series win. Shahriar, on the other hand, never played an international game at the venue but had played many domestic matches here. He still remembered which gate of the venue would be shut down if there was a risk of a fan riot after a heated match at the club level.

"My domestic career began here. The pivotal innings of my career, the century for the Under-19 team, came here," said the former Bangladesh team opener.
Cricket's return to BNS, even if it was for just one morning, happened because of the newly appointed strength and conditioning coach of the Bangladesh team, Nathan Kiely.

The Australian coach wanted to assess the fitness levels of the cricketers and felt that having them run 1600m on an athletics track was the best way to achieve it.

The 35 cricketers were divided into two groups for the run. Pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib won in one group while his fellow pacer Nahid Rana easily won in the second one and did the iconic Usain Bolt pose after his win to the raucous applause of his teammates.

Mahmudullah, the eldest of the bunch, came last but the 38-year-old received cheers from everyone as he crossed the finish line. The second oldest of the bunch, the 36-year-old Mushfiqur, however, outran many of the youngsters and finished the race behind Tanzim.

Bangladesh Cricket Board trainer Iftekharul Islam said that the race was a way to assess the fitness level of the cricketers ahead of a busy schedule, where the national team is set to play at least 29 matches across three formats in the next seven months.

Shakib Al Hasan, who is in the USA and Mustafizur Rahman, who is busy in the Indian Premier League, could not be a part of the session while Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam and Taskin Ahmed were absent due to injury.