Win Projections to be updated soon
Bangladesh have played in the First Round just like the way they play generally. There were lots of hype among their fans but they started with a narrow loss against Scotland. Then they came back strongly with two back-to-back wins in their next two matches but they finished as second in their group. A recent change from ICC in the tournament format meant that they are now placed in the tougher group with five other Test playing nations.
The presence of Shakib Al Hasan could be the biggest strength for them. Shakib was their Man-of-the-Match in both their wins and even performed consistently during 2019 World Cup also. He is the premier all-rounder of the current era and his record proves the fact. Along with Shakib they also have few strong bowling options in Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mahedi Hasan. A good mix of spin and pace bowling option should prove to be beneficial for them.
Like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s problem also lies in their batting. They have three very experienced batters in Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah in the middle-order but they would expect more consistency from Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah and expect them to guide the young players Mohammad Naim and Liton Das towards a big target.
Their younger players will be under pressure to deliver in this tournament. But if players like Naim, Mahedi and Afif Hossain can show their full potential that would be great for Bangladesh and their fans. All of them already have 1-2 big performances in the First Round matches and if they can deliver few more times, Bangladesh can spring a few surprises. Matches against teams like England, Australia and South Africa will not be easy but Bangladesh have some recent success against teams like Australia in their home territory and with the pitches in UAE already showing lots of support for the slow bowlers they can repeat some of their heroics.
Bangladesh generally underperform in the ICC tournaments compared to the expectation of their fans. This time also, the expectation is for them to trouble few teams and make 1-2 upsets. But their players would know that if they can play to their potential, they can actually surprise some of the big names and make everyone sit up and take notice of them.
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