More failures than gains

The T20 World Cup is just around the corner, scheduled to kick off in the United States and the West Indies at the beginning of June.. The teams are warming up ahead of the biggest competition in the shortest version of cricket. Pakistan played a five-match series against New Zealand to prepare for the World Cup. Babar Azam's team is currently playing a T20I series against Ireland. Following this, Pakistan will intensify their training regime with a four-match T20 series against the defending champions England. Meanwhile, West Indies and South Africa are poised for a three-match clash. Indian players are honing their skills in the IPL. In contrast, Bangladesh opted to prepare for the World Cup by facing Zimbabwe. While teams like Uganda successfully qualified for the World Cup, Zimbabwe did not. The Tigers prepared for the World Cup by playing against this weak team.

Bangladesh clinched the series against Zimbabwe at home with a 4-1 victory. Opening batsman Tanzid Hasan Tamim made his debut in international T20 cricket during this series. He has the experience of playing ODI World Cup. On the eve of the ODI World Cup, Tanzid got the chance as a substitute for Tamim Iqbal in a very unprepared state.
But this time Tanzid is more mature. He showcased his talent by scoring 384 runs at a strike rate of 136 for the Chattogram Challengers in the BPL. Notably, he played a remarkable innings of 116 runs off 65 balls against the Khulna Tigers, which stands as the highest individual score in this year's BPL. Tanzid's outstanding form continued in the T20I series against Zimbabwe.

In his T20 debut in Chattogram, he remained unbeaten with a remarkable 67 runs off 47 balls, steering his team to victory. He also secured a half-century in the fourth match of the series. Notably, he emerged as the top run-scorer in the series, amassing 160 runs in 5 matches. Towhid Hriday's impressive batting has also been a bright spot for Bangladesh, as he ranks as the second-highest run-scorer in the series with 140 runs. Mahmudullah Riyad's batting displayed brilliance. Whenever given the chance, this veteran consistently showcased his prowess on the field.

Apart from their batting prowess, Bangladesh demonstrated their dominance in bowling as well, with the top two spots occupied by Bangladeshi players. Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin each featured in 4 matches and claimed 8 wickets apiece. The world's best all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also showed his spin magic after returning to the national team after a long time. He has taken 5 wickets in two matches. After returning from IPL, Mustafizur Rahman became Man of the Match in Bangladesh jersey.

Despite securing a 4-1 series victory, Bangladesh encountered more failures than achievements in this series. Following an impressive 8-wicket win in the first match, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and his team faced a disaster while chasing 139 runs in the second match. However, Bangladesh managed to salvage victory on that occasion, thanks to the skillful batting performances of Towhid Hriday and Mahmudullah. The third and fourth matches were won by narrow margins of 9 and 5 runs respectively. However, in the fifth match, Bangladesh suffered a significant defeat, ending the series on a disappointing note with a loss of 8 wickets.

On social media, there's a popular saying that Zimbabwe is Bangladesh cricket's faithful companion during its toughest times. Whenever Bangladeshi cricketers struggle with the form, Zimbabwe seems to step in to lend a helping hand. However, this time around, Zimbabwe couldn't help revive the form of several star batsmen from Bangladesh. Litton Kumar Das, in particular, faced a significant downturn in form, resulting in his exclusion from the XI. The stylish batsman managed only 36 runs in the first three matches. While Tanzid Hassan enjoyed success, Litton's name was associated with failure during this series.

The Bangladesh captain also endured a tough series with the bat. Shanto could only muster 81 runs across five matches. Despite his success with the ball, Shakib's batting failed to impress, as he could only score 22 runs in two matches.

The T20 format heavily relies on strike rates, where the number of balls faced to score runs is a crucial aspect. If runs aren't scored quickly, it becomes challenging to compete against the opponent. In the ongoing IPL, it's common to see teams reaching 250 runs in 20 overs, with many batsmen boasting strike rates of 200-250. However, Bangladesh's batsmen disappointed in this regard, even against a weak bowling attack like Zimbabwe's. In this series, the captain Shanto recorded a low strike rate of only 103.84, while Litton Das performed even worse at 83.72. Soumya Sarkar managed a strike rate of 117.07 across two matches, and Shakib's was 110.00. None of the Bangladeshi batsmen achieved a strike rate of 150 in the series.

While preparation is crucial before a major tournament, it's equally important to safeguard players from injury. Despite securing victory in the series, Taskin Ahmed, a key figure in the pace attack, was not given rest. Unfortunately, he had to leave the field due to injury during the fourth match, resulting in his exclusion from the XI for the fifth and final T20I. Moreover, concerns have emerged regarding Taskin potentially facing an extended period on the sidelines due to his injury.

During the inauguration of Rubel Hussain's showroom, Shakib stated, "Engaging in a series against Zimbabwe does not adequately prepare us for the World Cup. The World Cup presents a completely different challenge. The better I can handle pressure there, the higher my chances of success." Shakib believes that facing weak opponents does not provide sufficient preparation. Bangladesh will have one more preparatory series before the World Cup, against another weak opponent, the USA. It remains to be seen how far Bangladesh can progress in the World Cup by preparing against such teams.