Bangladesh easily won the first two of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. But there is dissatisfaction. Captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto said the same after winning the second match on Sunday. In both the matches, after the great bowling of the pacers, the hosts stopped Zimbabwe by a few runs. But the batting of the top order batsmen at the target is alarming. Despite winning the first match by 8 wickets, Bangladesh batted till 16 overs to reach the target of 125 runs. In the next match, they had to play up to 19 overs to reach the target of 139 runs. BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon has expressed doubt after seeing such batting of Bangladesh.
Papon spoke to the media after handing over the title to Dhaka Premier League champions Abahani Limited at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday. He is afraid of Bangladesh’s batting, ‘We won two matches easily against Zimbabwe. It is true that the batting was not good. Batting is very scary.’
Despite fear of batting, the board chief is satisfied with bowling. Praising Mostafizur Rahman, who has played in the IPL along with Saifuddin, Taskin, he said, ‘I have seen two matches in the series against Zimbabwe. But he did well in bowling. The way Saifuddin bowled after so long, the way Sheikh Mehdi bowled, Taskin seems devastating. Mustafiz has played very well in the IPL.
Recently, Shakib Al Hasan said in an event that playing a series against Zimbabwe is not ideal for World Cup preparations. This time was preparation for Bangladesh. Referring to the comments of the experienced all-rounder, Papon said that it may have been said by Shakib jokingly. According to him, Shakib would have played the T20 against Zimbabwe without playing the 50-over Premier League if the preparations were calculated.
Papon said, ‘The series we are playing with Zimbabwe is also T20. Before this we have played BPL, we have seen crowded BPL. It was a competitive game. Before that we played a full series with Sri Lanka. Even then it takes preparation! I think that’s what he said. If that was the case… he could have played T20 and ODI too. But he is playing ODI. He seems to have done mischief with you.’
Before the 2022 T20 World Cup, Bangladesh played a series against Pakistan and New Zealand. Before this World Cup, they will play a series with the United States after Zimbabwe. When asked to compare the preparations, the BCB president said, ‘This series against Zimbabwe is not preparation for the World Cup. This is our FTP game. Do I give them points in the FTP game? It has nothing to do with it.’
On the other hand, while explaining the match against the USA, Papon also said, ‘And in the USA we want to play them (Bangladesh team) to adapt to their conditions, wickets and everything. If you ask me, we should have ended it earlier. If you talk about preparation, there is no preparation two weeks before. What should be done should have been started earlier. I think, the number of series we play, the whole series with Sri Lanka, this year’s BPL is crowded, well played. This is what preparation is supposed to be.’
