Skipper Shakib Al Hasan believes that Bangladesh’s first-ever T20 series win against Afghanistan will have a significant positive impact on the team’s confidence leading up to the Asia Cup. Despite losing the ODI series 2-1, Bangladesh displayed a strong comeback in the T20 format, sweeping the two-match series with a 2-0 victory at the Sylhet International Stadium.
The T20 series win against Afghanistan is seen as a significant achievement for Bangladesh, providing a much-needed boost to the team’s morale. Shakib and his team will look to build on this success and carry the momentum into the upcoming Asia Cup tournament.
“From T20 squad around 80 to 90 percent cricketers will play in the ODIs and this is a huge confidence boost for us ahead of the Asia Cup,” Shakib said after his team’s win.
It seems that Bangladesh’s cricket team has been performing well in T20Is. Shakib, a member of the team, acknowledged their success but also emphasized the need for flexibility in order to achieve more victories in the future. In a rain-affected second game of a two-match series, Bangladesh made a strategic move by promoting Afif Hossain, who typically bats at number seven, up the batting order. This decision proved fruitful as Afif responded well and scored 67 runs in a partnership with Litton Das, setting the stage for a significant victory. Notably, the opposition had a strong bowling attack, making Bangladesh’s achievement more commendable.
Furthermore, Bangladesh has been on a successful streak in bilateral T20I series. They secured their fourth consecutive bilateral series win in this format. In the previous year, they won a 2-0 series against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. This year, they continued their winning form by defeating England and Ireland by margins of 3-0 and 2-1 respectively on their home ground. These achievements highlight Bangladesh's progress and growth in T20I cricket.
“If there is flexibility it is good for the team. In T20s, a number seven might have to do the same job that openers have to do. If the openers bat for 15 overs he might have to play the next five overs as well. If everyone can bat everywhere, they won’t find it difficult to adapt when facing a tough situation. The same goes for the bowlers when they bowl in different situations.
“The five or six bowlers we have... our job is to make things easy for batters and we always try that. Now with the combination we have, we are seeing a healthy competition among pacers and spinners and this is a good thing for the team,” Shakib added.
“Towhid Hridoy and other players are with us from the last World Cup. Most of the players in this team are here either from the World Cup or Asia Cup. Two to four players are coming and going but it’s a continuous process.
But we are still far from getting our best combination,” he said, adding that beating Afghanistan in T20Is came as a big releif as they've not done very well historically against them in this format.
“Of course, it’s a big relief when your plans work accordingly and players can also execute it on the field and we get results in our favour. What can be better than that? We didn't have good results against them in this format. But after winning such a series in this type of condition, I think it will give us great confidence to do well in the coming days,” Shakib said.
