T20 World Cup 2022: 3 Bangladesh players to watch out for in tournament

Even after winning the series against UAE, one can’t really say with conviction that the Bangladesh team has played some good cricket in Dubai. Under the leadership of Mahmudullah, the Bangla Tigers failed to win a single match in the Super 12 of 2021 T20 World Cup. Since then, the team dynamics have definitely changed but the result hasn’t. Shakib Al Hasan has been appointed as the new captain of the Bangladesh team but he couldn’t bring a revolution as Bangladesh once again lost all their matches in a major tournament. After the Asia Cup setback, did anything change?

Well, one positive move is definitely to bring in some young guns in the national set-up. This is for the first time in many years that Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal and Musfiqur Rahim will not be a part of the squad. With that, this might be the last time Shakib represents Bangladesh on the T20 World Cup stage. However, the team will have to keep the emotion aside and focus on getting better to challenge for the title. In order to do so, these three players will be really vital.

3 players who’ll play a vital role for Bangladesh in the upcoming T20 World Cup

1. Shakib Al Hasan

The captain of the ship will have an enormous responsibility in the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, ever since the conclusion of the Asia Cup, he hasn’t been a part of the Bangladesh squad during the UAE tour because of CPL commitments and also didn’t feature in the first T20I against Pakistan in the tri-series including New Zealand. Despite that, Shakib will arguably be the most vital piece in the jig-saw.

The 35-year-old has played 101 T20 internationals for the Bangla Tigers and has scored 2045 runs at a strike rate of 120.72. Even though his strike rate can be a matter of discussion, the player often plays the role of an anchor and aims to build the innings for the hitters to capitalise. However, consistency has been an issue for the cricketer. This is one area he needs to work on and the tri-series against New Zealand and Pakistan and then warm-up games will provide that opportunity.

Besides that, his main role will be to restore the lost prestige of Bangladesh. Bangladesh, who once used to be the dark horse of the ICC tournaments, has slowed down in recent times. Their T20 record in the recent past has been pretty average and as the captain, he’ll have to take responsibility to bring the glory days back.