World T20 2016: SWOT Analysis of the Bangladesh team

Last one year or so has been Bangladesh’s best phase in International cricket since inception. From beating England in the World Cup to qualify for their first ever quarter-final to beating Pakistan, India, and South Africa back to back in home ODI series’ Bangladesh have grabbed headlines left, right, and center. Their Asia Cup show too was quite prolific, beaten only by India twice in the league and the finals. In their wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka though, Bangladesh proved to one and all yet again that they were minnows no more. It is a tad bit disappointing that Bangladesh have to play in the qualifiers first unlike other full-member teams, who have “automatic qualification” for the “main event”. Let us, however, look at the SWOT analysis of the Bangladesh team for the World T20.

Strength:

Squad:

Bangladesh is a very well-rounded side, filled with match winners. They have a good top-order in the form of Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, and Sabbir Rehman, all three of them can be explosive at the start and take the game away from the opposition bowlers early in the game. Their bowlers too, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin and Mustafizur pose a threat to the opposition batsmen at all times and the way they bowled in the Asia Cup T20 was quite commendable. So it is quite easy to say that Bangladesh won’t have starting trouble with the bat or the ball.

Weakness:

Middle order:

The middle-overs is where Bangladesh lost the plot against India in both the games. After starting well, they failed to carry on the momentum with both bat and ball. The form of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan will really bother Bangladesh going into the World T20. They should reconsider pushing Mahmudullah Riad, by far their best batsman on current form and their designated finisher, up the order which will help them avoid the slide in the middle overs.

Second line of attack:

In the bowling department too, they have to smartly use their bowlers and not let the opposition batsmen get out of jail after the initial spells by Taskin and Al-Amin. Mashrafe Mortaza will have to find a wicket taking bowler in the middle overs if he wants his team to advance beyond the group stages. No doubt they have a good frontline attack, Bangladesh need wicket-takers in its second line as well, as that has thus far given the opposition a breathing space and eased out the pressure.

Opportunities:

Bangladesh have a talented side and everyone is expecting them to come good this World T20. They are expected to top their qualifier group and join India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand in the Group 2 of the tournament. They recently beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup and will be hoping to repeat that feat. New Zealand will be missing Brendon McCullum, without whom they seem not as threatening as one would imagine. The Aussies are yet to find their best XI and these factors provide Bangladesh their best opportunity to qualify for their first ever semi-final of a major world cricket tournament.

Threats:

Expectations can be a double-edged sword, in the previous tournaments, many expected Bangladesh “to simply show up”. However, this time around given their brilliant run of form, there are huge expectations from the Bangla Tigers. They have to work around the pressure and the fear of failure these expectations bring along with them, something that has traditionally haunted South Africa in big tournaments. The other threat to their chances is complacency. They should try and not get too ahead of themselves and falter in the qualifiers. Bangladesh will be pitted against The Netherlands, Ireland and Oman all of whom will be looking to leave a mark in the tournament and one can never really discount Ireland who have beaten at least one big team almost every time in a major tournament

Can the traditional giant killers go on to become one of the teams to beat this World T20? They surely have the men to do the task, but do they have the belief is something that fans all over the world are waiting to see.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan

How good is the West Indies team? – World T20 2016: SWOT Analysis of the West Indies team