Bangladesh cricket team’s newly appointed skipper Shakib-al-Hasan can take the team to new heights with his attacking brand of captaincy. It won’t be wrong to say that Shakib-al-Hasan is a complete package who not only can contribute to all the 3 departments of the game but create a massive impact. Bangladeshi Tigers are placed in Group B along with Sri Lanka & Afghanistan as Group B is quite an interesting & grueling one.
Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.
Strengths
Bangladesh have got a spin attack which can be dangerous in Sri Lankan conditions as the pitches are quite dry. Skipper Shakib-al-hasan and the foxy spinner Mehidy Hasan can trouble the batters. Shakib-al-hasan will have to make sure that the burden of captaincy doesn’t affect his natural gameplan as we have seen in the past that how leadership takes a toll on the performance.
Weaknesses
Bangladesh’s cricket team find it quite difficult to chase big targets over 280 as the lower middle order is quite inexperienced. The likes of Mushfiqur Rahim & Afif Hossain will have to take the run chase deep as we have seen that the game changes at the back end of the innings. The absence of Tamim Iqbal will hurt the Bangladeshi setup enormously as the left handed batter not only can pace the innings next to perfection but can play a significant knock for the side.
X factor
The left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman recently has worked on his pace and at the same time can be seen duping the batters in the death overs. In the recently concluded Afghanistan ODI series, the fast bowler showed that he has good control over his line & length. Mustafizur Rahman will play a key role in Bangladesh qualifying for the Super 4 stage. Shakib-al-Hasan will have to carefully handle Mustafizur as the speedster can get thrashed all around the park as well.
Chances
Bangladesh’s first match is on 31st August at Pallekele, Sri Lanka as we can expect a battle between the spinners. Bangladesh’s peculiarity ever since the 2019 ODI WC have been that they are no longer dependent on the veteran batters Shakib-al-Hasan & Mushfiqur Rahim as the rising batter Litton Das has played staggering knocks for the team. It looks likely that Bangladesh would qualify for Super 4 as the conditions are quite tailor-made for them.
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