'We're doing badly' - Najmul Hossain Shanto addresses Bangladesh's powerplay blues

The powerplay in T20 cricket is a crucial phase where batters enjoy the freedom to unleash their shots with maximum aggression. With fielding restrictions in place, the period offers ample opportunities for batters to capitalise on gaps and vacant spaces, setting the tone for the rest of the innings.

Bangladesh's inability to seize the initiative in the opening six was glaringly apparent during their maiden T20I clash against the United States of America. This historic fixture concluded with the hosts securing a memorable five-wicket win to make way into the cricketing folklore. Despite their initial scoring rate of 34 runs in the first four overs without losing a wicket, Bangladesh faltered in the last two powerplay overs, adding only three runs in those while losing both openers to be reduced to 37/2. 

Bangladesh's struggles in the powerplay have only extended. In the recently-concluded home series against Zimbabwe, which Bangladesh clinched 4-1, their returns in the first six overs were 33/3, 57/0, 42/2, 41/1, and 35/1 (fifth T20I to first T20I). Further evidence supporting this concern can be found in the average powerplay score of Bangladesh over their past 50 T20Is, which stands at 43/2.

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Bangladeshi skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto openly admitted that the powerplay phase has been a persistent concern for the team. Nevertheless, he assured that they would not dwell on it and would stay committed to improving the performance in the future.

"We are doing badly in this area and we hope that we will come back well in the coming days," Shanto told reporters. "I don't think there is anything to worry because all the batters are working with their skill and we all know that the top order needs to play well and as a batting unit it is everybody's responsibility and the batsmen are working with it."

We didn't drop Tanzid Tamim: Shanto

Meanwhile, Soumya Sarkar's inclusion in place of the in-form Tanzid Tamim, who had impressed since his debut against Zimbabwe, has raised questions. However, Shanto clarified that Tamim was rested to provide Sarkar a chance to get his bearings in place, especially since he lost game time due to a knee injury he picked in the series against Sri Lanka.

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"We didn't drop Tanzid Tamim. What I feel is that we had a plan of playing all the three openers by rotating them, and so we had given him a break because Soumya didn't play a lot of matches as he was injured and that is the reason we opted for this plan (resting Tanzid)," added Shanto.