To have improved performance in the T20 World Cup, the Bangladesh’s new captain Najmul Hossain Shanto says they will need better pitches at home.
The 25-year-old captain noted that Bangladesh is the only country to play in all of the T20 World Cups since 2007 without making it to a knockout stage.
Najmul blamed their struggles on lack of high-scoring matches that are common in the twenty overs format due to low scores recorded on Bangladeshi pitches. He stressed that playing longer time at good wickets would help them improve strike rates.
“We must be playing on good wickets first. Some may consider this statement as an excuse but we do play very few games on a good wicket,” said Shanto.
Bangladesh has made progress in short formats, with recent series victories over top teams such as Australia, England and New Zealand. However, their 2-1 loss against USA in pre-tournament warm-up fixtures revealed some weaknesses.
“We cannot change everything overnight within six months. If we continuously get good wickets one or two years from now, these strike rates will increase,” said Bangladeshi skipper.
This year’s T20 World Cup starting June 1st across United States and West Indies could be farewells for some of Bangladesh’s most experienced campaigners.
Shakib Al Hasan former captain and number one ranked T20 all-rounder and Mahmudullah Riyad another veteran all rounder are set to retire soon.
“Definitely I want them to play world cup give everything they have. They decide where they will stop their careers. As a skipper I would like each of them share experience with whole team members” he said Najmul
Bangladesh face tough competition within their group which includes strong teams like South Africa and Sri Lanka alongside Nepal and Netherlands Their opening match is against Sri Lanka on June 7th at Dallas; a side with whom they have developed a bitter rivalry ever since the ODI World Cup incident featuring Angelo Mathews last year.
However, Najmul maintains that his team has forgotten about all that and is concentrating only on its performance at the tournament, saying “We have already moved on. We didn’t do anything after the incident to keep it in mind. I can say much about them. But as a team, we are focusing on our own game.”
