Why keep waiting?

Following a barrage of criticism, Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan finally delivered with the bat against the Netherlands in their crucial Group D game of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown on Thursday.

The 37-year-old all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 46-ball 64, reaching his fifty off 38 deliveries, as Bangladesh made 159 for five in 20 overs on a decent-looking pitch.

Shakib, who also became the eighth batter to reach the landmark of 800 runs in the T20 mega event, starred in three crucial stands of 48, 41, and an unbroken 29 with Tanzid Hasan (35 off 26), Mahmudullah Riyad (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (14* off 7), respectively, to propel Bangladesh to a competitive score.

Being the recipient of criticism is nothing new for Shakib but the poster boy of Bangladesh was heavily scrutinised for underperforming in the first two matches of the mega event. Shakib could score just eight in the Tigers' two-wicket win against Sri Lanka in their tournament opener and managed three in the following four-run defeat to South Africa.

While Shakib had been struggling with the willow for a while now -- his last T20I fifty before today's knock dating back to October 2022, against Pakistan in a tri-nation series including hosts New Zealand -- it seemed as if he had let it spread to what comes naturally to him: his bowling.

Against South Africa, Shakib was used for just one over -- the first time in his T20 career that Shakib bowled just one over in a game that saw the completion of the full 20 overs. There were reasons for the team management's apparent reservation in limiting Shakib's overs against the Proteas as he had conceded 30 off three overs, including a 16-run over, in the Sri Lanka match.

Such performance even drew some scathing comments from experts, including former India opener Virender Sehwag who had asked for Shakib to "be embarrassed" and "retire from the format".

However, as he so often does, Shakib turned things around yesterday, displaying some confident strokeplay and game sense -- as if in reply to Sehwag and critics. He did see a few deliveries fly off the edge of his willow for boundaries but Shakib looked a different player altogether than he had been for a while, batting at a strike rate of around 140 and smashing a total of nine boundaries.

Quite a few aspects like planning, execution, and process – things that Bangladesh players resort to while stating their expectations ahead of a game -- came through in their thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas yesterday. 

While the bowlers largely took the stage in an impressive display to restrict the Lankans to 124, the batting unit, despite several hiccups, eventually stumbled over the finish line with an over to spare.

The Tigers deservedly have had to endure copious amounts of criticisms in their build-up to their tournament opener but appeared to have brushed it all aside come game time and produced a mighty impressive display, particularly while fielding in the first innings.

A switch seemed to have suddenly turned the Tigers on as they were aggressive in their approach while fielding and rarely put a foot wrong as a unit in the lion hunt in Dallas. Najmul Hossain Shanto's troops were buzzing like bees from the onset and looked like a team hell-bent on pulling off a result in their favour.

Several Bangladesh players played out of their skin and the accumulation of all these individual performances led the Tigers to the win, yet again proving the noiton that the men in red and green pull of memorable wins when they play as a unit.   

Pacers sizzle

Bangladesh initially struggled to keep a lid on things despite getting the ball to beat the Lankan batters on several occasions. The Tigers conceded nine fours and a six as the Lankans raced off to 53 for two at the end of the Powerplay, with opener Pathum Nissanka in full groove. But Mustafizur Rahman used his expertise to great effect to dismiss the right-handed opener for a 28-ball 47 with a delivery angled across. That particular wicket pulled things back for the Tigers as it significantly slowed down the rate of scoring. Before that, he got the better off Kamindu Mendis in the Powerplay after Taskin Ahmed had sent back Kusal Mendis in the third over.

The Fizz scalped another one at the death to cap off an impressive evening as he returned three for 17.

His pace partners Taskin and Tanzim Hasan Sakib also shone in different phases of play, with the former picking up two for 25 while Sakib showed masterful execution at the death, nailing his yorkers as well as slowers to further merit his inclusion in the eleven.

X-factor Rishad

One of the aspects that stood out was the faith shown in leg-spinner Rishad Hossain by the team management as well as the captain. He bowled one over in the first 10 and three in the next, including an over in the last five. The leggie is not known for turning the ball, but on the night, managed to give it a rip more than anyone else. The meters displayed that he extracted 3.6 degrees of turn -- the most in that regard in the tournament so far. The 21-year-old played to his strengths, relying on drift and accuracy and when he had the addition of the ability to turn the ball, Rishad turned the match on its head by dismissing Charith Asalanka and Wanindu

Hasaranga in the same over, leaving the Lankans five down for 103 after 15. In his final over, the 17th of the innings, he bowled a ripper to outfox Dhananjaya de Silva.

Liton shows composure, and Hridoy unleashes himself

A dismal Powerplay may have sent jitters in the Tigers' camp but Liton Das stood tall. His tally, a 38-ball 36, might not reflect the gravity of the knock but it demands appreciation in the context of the game. The right-handed batter tackled Sri Lanka's Pandora's box with graceful ease and held up one end expertly in the chase in a 63-run stand with Towhid Hridoy, who smacked a 20-ball 40. Hridoy conjured up a tornado in the 12th over against Hasaranga as he powered three maximums to potentially seal the match for the Tigers as they required 34 off the last 48 balls. However, he left the job undone, perishing in the same over after which the match swung like a pendulum and turned into a thriller.

Mahmudullah at it again

With the match still in the balance, Mahmudullah was gifted a juicy full toss by Dasun Shanaka in the penultimate over and the veteran batter responded promptly. He had to weather through a turbulent few overs, watching partners at the other end throw it away, and also rode his luck in a run-out situation but held his nerve and got the job done in the end.

Bangladesh advanced into the semifinals of the SAFF U-20 Championship with a 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in first Group A match at ANFA Complex in Nepal today. 

Three-time runners-up Bangladesh took the lead in the first-half with a tap-in from forward Mirajul Islam before substitute Piash Ahmed Nova sealed the victory with the second five minutes from full-time.

Sri Lanka came into the match with a must-win situation following a 1-0 defeat against Nepal in their first match and a second loss paved the way for a group-stage exit as Bangladesh and Nepal advanced to the last four. Bangladesh and Nepal will, however, face each other in the last fixture of the group on August 22 at the same venue which will determine the group winner and runner-up.

Bangladesh, with the strength of experienced players from the Bangladesh Premier League, dominated most of the proceedings and took a deserved lead in the 17th minute but since then faced a bit of pressure from Sri Lanka, who squandered two good chances in the first 45 minutes. However, Bangladesh thwarted the pressure in the second half with three changes and sealed the victory with the second goal.

Batting will be at the forefront of Bangladesh's agenda after consecutive underwhelming efforts going into their T20 World Cup Group D fixture against the Netherlands at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown today.

Bangladesh almost made a meal of their 124-run chase against Sri Lanka in their two-wicket win in Dallas and were on the wrong end of the results, falling short by four runs, when they had to chase 113 against South Africa in their second match in New York.

While the bowlers delivered excellent efforts in both matches, the batters, with the exception of in-form Towhid Hridoy, have largely misfired and failed to pull their weight.

Hridoy, Bangladesh's top run-getter with 77, played a match-winning 20-ball 40 against the Lankans and followed it up with a vigilant 34-ball 37. He is the only batter to have an average strike-rate greater than 100 so far for the Tigers and has batted at more than a run-a-ball in both matches.

The top-order continues to be one of the major headaches for the Tigers, more so because it includes skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who hasn't been able to snap out of his miserable run, averaging 14.2 in his last 10 innings at a strike-rate of 86.1.

With the pitches in Dallas and New York being significant limiting factors in batting, the move away from the USA could not have come at a better time for Bangladesh batters who will hope that the surfaces in the West Indies will allow them to bat with more freedom.

The Tigers will also take confidence from the fact that they have gone through the most difficult phase in the group with minimal damage as they have a win and a loss against relatively superior sides (Sri Lanka and South Africa) and have Netherlands and Nepal, both of whom are lower down in the rankings, up next.

A win against the Netherlands will put Bangladesh in a favourable position as far as qualification to the Super 8s is concerned as it will allow the Tigers to have progression to the next round in their own hands. With Sri Lanka and Nepal on one point each, Bangladesh, who have two, have the Netherlands as key competition for qualification.

Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, took the blame for his team's poor show at the Asia Cup, but said that there's time to rebuild the team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

A convincing eight-wicket win over Hong Kong in the tournament opener suggested Pakistan were going to be a force. But it was followed by an eight-wicket defeat to India, and then, following a last-over win over Afghanistan in the Super Fours, losses to India and Bangladesh. As a result, Pakistan crashed out of the tournament they have won twice in the past.

"Yes, our performance was very poor. Our batting wasn't good, and we dropped a lot of catches. Our bowling was also patchy, and that's the reason we are out of the tournament," accepted Ahmed, who had a poor run with the bat himself, scoring 68 runs in four innings.

"I still believe we have a lot of talented players in the team. Look at Fakhar Zaman. Though he didn't have a good tournament, we have to back him. Babar Azam too. Imam has, thankfully, done well, but there's also Shadab and Hasan. We have to back them and take them along with us. We have to look at our bench too. We have a pool of players, and by the time the World Cup comes, we'll have a good team," said Ahmed.

"The World Cup is quite some time away, we have other engagements before that. Australia are coming, and then there's New Zealand. So we have to review our performance and see where we are falling short.

"We are losing too many wickets early, and the middle order has had to deal with the new ball, which isn't easy, and hitting quickly in the end isn't easy on these pitches. We'll have to get together and fix these issues."

While Ahmed called the performance 'alarming', he added, "There's no need to press the panic button. Yes, we have made mistakes as a team, and as a captain, I know that I didn't do well. But no need to panic, we need to back the players, look at the positions and see if there are people outside the team who can come in."