Chasing 150 feels like chasing ghosts for Tigers

If problems in Bangladesh cricket were turned into a book, it definitely would have separate chapters for sluggish strike-rates, batting collapses, finishing abilities, and predictable modus operandi.

Joining the index on that list of chapters would also be the discernible inability to chase 150 or more in the shortest format of the game.

Chasing down big scores and the Bangladesh cricket team are like oil and water -- they do not mix.

The Tigers suffer from megalophobia -- they fear large targets. It is apparent particularly in T20Is, a format they have yet to wrap their heads around.

Thursday evening at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium served as yet another reminder of this chronic problem. Set a 179-run target for victory on what was arguably the best batting surface in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan, Bangladesh crashed to a woeful 104 all out in just 16.4 overs.

And yet, the scorecard flattered them. Without Mohammad Saifuddin's 34-ball 35 -- the highest score in the innings -- and 13 extras handed over by Pakistan, the defeat would have been far more embarrassing. Beyond Saifuddin and the extras, only opener Naim Sheikh managed to reach double figures -- a painful 17-ball 10-run stay in the middle before he was put out of his misery.

The numbers behind Bangladesh's inability to chase are far more damning -- it tells a story of how they are allergic to chasing down big totals and how they get asphyxiated by the sole idea of trying to do so.

Let us delve into the numbers underscoring the extent of the failure.

Bangladesh have been tasked with chasing down total of at least 150 and above on 56 occasions; And only on nine occasions have they been able to cross the finish line. The remaining 47 attempts ended in failure.

Of those 56 chases, 36 were overseas, where Bangladesh won five times. The other 20 came at home. Yet only four of those yielded victory. And here's the kicker, not one of those home wins came at the so-called fortress in Mirpur.

Ten times Bangladesh have been handed a 150-plus chase in Mirpur. Ten times they've failed. Zero wins. When the task involves chasing tall scores, the 'home of cricket' for Tigers is far from being a haven.

Despite having played majority of their matches in Mirpur, Bangladesh managed to defy the curse of chasing scores north of 150 in Sylhet (two wins), Chattogram (one), and Khulna (one).

Bangladesh did win two successive series -- beating Pakistan 2-1 after a same margin victory away to Sri Lanka. And, Bangladesh skipper Litton Das probably leveraged this fact to conclude that the Tigers are "heading in the right direction" after the final T20I against Pakistan.

But as it seems, that direction leads only till the score is 149.