Shakib Al Hasan, an all-rounder for Bangladesh, stated on Saturday, May 4, that his country’s preparation for the next ICC T20 World Cup is not “ideal” because they are not playing the top teams before the main tournament.
Bangladesh is currently playing a five-match Twenty20 International series against Zimbabwe in order to get ready for the world event. Following the conclusion of their home series, they have a three-match series against the USA scheduled. Bangladesh participated in a tri-nation series with New Zealand and Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup as part of their preparation. They put up a good fight, despite their inability to win games in the series.
After defeating the Netherlands by nine runs in their opening match of the campaign, Bangladesh went on to secure their first victory in the tournament’s main phase since they had defeated the West Indies in the inaugural edition back in 2007. Bangladesh secured their second victory in the main round, defeating Zimbabwe by three runs, and seemed set to make it to the semi-final, which Pakistan ultimately destroyed.
“It would be incorrect to contemplate the World Cup based on how we performed against Zimbabwe and the United States of America. The World Cup will take place in a new location, so our chances of doing well will increase the more pressure we can face,” Shakib told reporters in Dhaka on Saturday.
“We fared fairly well in the last World Cup, and even though we didn’t play exceptionally well, nobody will argue we did poorly. If that serves as our baseline, we stand a chance of surpassing it during this World Cup, but doing so will require us to win three games in the preliminary stage,” he stated.
“Because there aren’t many players who have played in the USA, one of the main goals of playing against them is to familiarize yourself with the location and become used to their playing style. Few people have ever played in Florida (2018), so while we will acclimate to the weather by playing this series, I would argue that this is not the best situation in terms of preparation,” he stated.
“We went to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia after competing against Pakistan and New Zealand, so we obviously went there with excellent preparation, so that being taken into account, this is not ideal. However, in terms of preparation, this is the most we can do,” he continued.
Shakib also criticized BCB’s decision-makers, saying it would have been preferable if they had played the super league stage of the current Dhaka Premier League, the nation’s traditional list A event, in a shorter format rather than finishing it the conventional way.
In light of the current heat wave in Bangladesh, he believed that playing 50 overs was inhumane. “A T20 format for the Super League (DPL) would have been preferable. Being underground in this heat for the entire day is inhumane,” he remarked. It ought to be managed more sensibly. Given that the T20 World Cup is coming up, it would have benefited the national team. It did not occur somehow,” he continued.
