Photos: Firoz Ahmed
The word one could be looking for to describe Bangladesh’s status in the ongoing Afghanistan series is desolation. The team may have suffered sour defeats before but after recent records established them as a high-flying ODI side, they have now stumbled at home with a series defeat and the team morale has taken a hit.
Being able to mentally cope with the disappointments of this series while also salvaging some pride will be in order as the Tigers take on Afghanistan in the dead rubber third and final ODI on Tuesday. But in the context of the next three months, a difficult challenge awaits to rebuild the side for major events to come.
With the Asia Cup and World Cup on the horizon, it will be important to not only work out how Afghanistan have been able to find a competitive advantage but also ways to minimise them. In the context of healing the team’s morale, a bigger effort from the team management is required.
For a few series, the Tigers were able to shake off the ghosts from past batting debacles but confidence seems to have ebbed away a bit with two miserable outings in both ODIs. The top-order has found it difficult to counter Fazalhaq Farooqi and once the Afghan spinners came on, most of them found it hard to read deliveries.
Bangladesh’s opening match of the World Cup will also be against Afghanistan and answers to these problems would go a long way to achieving their objectives at the showpiece event. It will be interesting to see what counter strategies the team’s think tank comes up with in the third ODI.
The number seven spot in the batting order has been one of the key issues for the Tigers and Afif Hossain, coming back into the side, has failed to make hay yet. It was Afif who, along with Mehedi Hasan Miraz, seized victory against Afghanistan in the last ODI series between the two sides.
Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas had the right idea about not just chopping and changing for the position.
“It is a question for selectors, not for me. Afif has played two games. If we are going to chop and change all the time, players will feel under pressure. You have to show faith in players. The No 7 spot is going to be hugely dependent on the balance of the team against different oppositions. It is a game-by-game thing,” Pothas said when the Mahmudullah Riyad question was posed along with thoughts on Afif’s performance.
A long gap is coming up after the ODI and T20I series and the key to rebuilding the side will be how Tigers manage their inner environment during this period. Key to the environment is how Tamim Iqbal, the skipper currently on a break, comes into the equation. The team management will not only have to ensure a smooth transition for Tamim but also whether the captain can boost the team’s morale from outside the team’s atmosphere. Rebuilding relationships, getting back into form and planning for the World Cup would all depend on how Tamim reacts upon return if he continues in the captaincy role.
Plenty to plan for the Tigers, not just for the Afghanistan challenge but their upcoming assignments.
