'That's been the story in the ICC events'- Wasim Jaffer criticises Bangladesh's senior players' performance

The two semi-finalists for the Champions Trophy 2025 after New Zealand thrashed Bangladesh by six wickets in the end. This means the tournament for Bangladesh and Pakistan. On the other hand, New Zealand and India have sealed their spot in the last four and remain unbeaten in the tournament.

The game between the Bangla Tigers and the Blackcaps was supposed to be a must-win game however, the performance from the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side was underwhelming on the day. The performance from Bangladesh was criticised by the experts. One of the experts who has recently shared his views on their performance was former India batter and domestic legend Wasim Jaffer who criticised the shot selection by the senior Bangladesh players Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. He also mentioned that the senior players fail to perform under pressure during ICC events as well. 

“We've only seen probably Shakib [Al Hasan] with that 2019 [ODI] World Cup where he was a standout player but I don't know if it's the pressure that gets to them or they put too much pressure on themselves, they just don't turn up,” said Jaffer as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“Even the shot selection we've seen today was very disappointing," Jaffer said. "Mushfiq [Mushfiqur] playing that shot, Mahmudullah playing that wild shot. And this is a must-win game. You want them to step up in these kinds of games and make themselves count. So that's been the story in the ICC events, unfortunately,” Jaffer added.

If they had taken those chances, this game could have been completely different: Shane Bond

The other expert who spoke on the game is former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond who brought out the the flaws in the batting and the fielding of the team but still praised the bowling attack. Bond who has been coaching a lot of franchises and international teams had mentioned that Bangladesh had to take their chances to make a comeback during the match.

“I like the look of their bowling attack, They have got the heat, they have got the left-armer [Mustafizur Rahman] which New Zealand and a team like England doesn't have. The spinners are good,” The 49-year-old former cricketer said.

“Also the fine margins… they missed chances. If you miss those run-out chances or those dropped catches, they are the difference between winning or losing a game. If they had taken those chances, this game could have been completely different. There is a lot to work with with their bowling attack. I think their batting in the end was the problem,” Bond added.