Bangladesh were expected to adapt to the conditions in the USA ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 but it turned out to be a nightmare. The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side lost not one but two consecutive T20Is to USA who will be making their T20 World Cup debut in this edition. While normalcy prevailed with a 10-wicket in the final T20I, Bangladesh team management have several loose ends to tie before the marquee event. The series loss left Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain frustrated as he called their performance ‘disappointing’.
"We never expected that the team would start the tour with a series loss but that's the reality. Everyone is not carrying the expected form and that is disappointing. We could not earn the desired result, which is certainly dissatisfying,” Ashraf told Cricbuzz.
Bangladesh's death bowlers struggled against former Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson and former Indian all-rounder Harmeet Singh as their unbeaten partnership helped USA chase down the target with three balls to spare and register maiden T20I win.
"In the opening game we were behind due to our bowling as they needed around 15 runs in the end and managed to get that, and that too against our best bowlers," said the former Bangladesh captain.
Failing to play as per situation
The 63-year-old with seven ODI outings also said that the batters are lacking the ability to read the situation and adapt to it accordingly.
"We need to play according to the call of the hour. If we need to hit fours and sixes we need to do that and if we see we need to play for singles with one or two boundaries here are there, we need to follow that. But unfortunately we are failing to do so," he said.
The big positive from the last T20I was their pace-bowling spearhead Mustafizur Rahman taking six wickets for 10 runs and registering the best bowling figures in the format for a Bangladesh bowler.
Bangladesh’s warm-up fixtures
Interestingly, Bangladesh will play their warm-up match is against USA as well which will be played on May 28. Their second warm-up game is against India on June 1.
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