If Bangladesh look back at the ICC World Twenty20 2014, they will curse just one performance: the mindless batting and an over from Farhad Reza that condemned them to a two-wicket defeat against already-eliminated Hong Kong in the first round. This was the kind of shock they could not overcome in the rest of the tournament. The batsmen never returned to form afterwards and the spinners always appeared to be easy prey for the opponents, producing big losses in all four Super 10 matches. The home side were the only team that did not win a single game in this stage, a fact that summarises their tournament.
‘It is really disappointing,’ said skipper Mushfiqur Rahim after the seven-wicket loss to Australia on Tuesday. ‘We played seven games but we couldn’t play well in all the matches in this round. In the first round we started well, apart from the Hong Kong game.
‘Unfortunately the momentum was lost when we lost against Hong Kong. It was a real shock for us,’ said Mushfiq.
‘It was difficult to recover from the defeat because after Hong Kong you’re not playing against Nepal, but against India or Pakistan or West Indies or Australia.’
Bangladesh needed to fire on cylinders if they were to be successful against these top teams, said Mushfiq, adding that the loss of form by a
few key players together had cost them a credible showing in the tournament.
‘There were a couple of guys who played well – I thought Anamul batted really well, and Sakib had a good series with the bat and the ball, Al Amin also had a couple of good spells in a couple of games,’ said Mushfiq.
‘But I think in a tournament like this when you want to beat some of the big boys you have to have at least four or five guys playing well and as a team. That did not happen.’
Like many others, Mushfiq also had no clue why this happened and what the remedy was.
‘If we could identify the problem then we would have played better.’
‘We ourselves cannot understand where the problem lies because we are practising properly, doing the little things properly, we are trying to apply ourselves properly and everyone is serious.’
‘Maybe we are not realising the problem, maybe outsiders will be able to understand.’
‘Now that the tournament is over we will try to get feedback from them and hope that we can solve the problem as soon as possible hopefully,’ he said.
The row over the vice-captaincy did not contribute to the results, said Mushfiq, claiming that the players were all happy with whatever responsibilities the Board had given to them.
Bangladesh removed Mahmudllah from the position of vice-captain at the start of season and promoted Tamim Iqbal to the role. Nasir Hossain was also one of the contenders for the post, but it was never given to him.
Tamim resigned from the post after the BCB refused to make him captain when Muhsfiq was injured during the recent bilateral series against Sri Lanka.
Tamim, Mahmudullah and Nasir were all off-colour during the World Twenty20, prompting questions about whether they had played the tournament in the right frame of mind.
Mushfiq, however, was adamant not to accept it as an issue.
‘I don’t think the vice-captaincy is an issue. It is a matter for the board, who will or will not be vice-captain,’ said Mushfiq. ‘I personally have never felt this and I have never seen the three of them display any egotistical qualities about this.’
BRIEF SCORES
Bangladesh 153-5 in 20 overs (Sakib 65, Mushfiq 47; NM Coulter-Nile 2-17) v Australia 158-3 in 17.3 overs (A Finch 71, D Warner 48, C White 18 not out; Al-Amin 2-30).
Result: Australia won by 7 wickets.
Man of the match: A Finch (AUS)
-With New Age input
