Litmus test for Tigers

After opening their Super 12 journey of the ICC T20 World Cup with a defeat to Sri Lanka, things are expected to get even tougher for Bangladesh when they take on high-flying England in their second Group I game in Abu Dhabi today.

There are quite a few areas that the Tigers will be looking to improve upon when they take on the top-ranked T20I side in the world and if they really want to keep themselves on course for a place in the semifinal, it will require a collective approach in all the three departments.

Bangladesh's catching emerged as the biggest area of concern after two dropped catches form Liton Das proved to be the turning point in that defeat to Sri Lanka.

Apart from catching, the manner in which the two Sri Lankan batters, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, toyed with the Bangladeshi bowlers displayed that even a score of 171 would not be enough.

Bangladesh's highest score in Powerplay overs came against Papua New Guinea, when they reached 45 for one in the first six overs. The Tigers managed to cross 40 just one other time in the Powerplay overs, getting 41 against Sri Lanka.

The opening pair's lack of firepower is also among major concerns for the team management, especially considering that the Tigers will be playing England in the T20 format for the first time. So will the team management do something outside the box?

A defeat to Bangladesh that led to their elimination from the 2015 ODI World Cup had made a positive impact on England's mentality as Eoin Morgan's side emerged from that tournament as a different unit altogether, especially in the white-ball format.

An attacking mindset has paid rich dividends for English cricket and they got the ultimate reward by lifting 2019 ODI World Cup before coming to the T20 World Cup as one of the favourites.

Bangladesh can take positives from their wins against England in the fifty-over World Cup in 2011 and 2015, but it is going to be an entirely different ball game in the T20 format.

England's hard-hitting strategy has been a feature of their successes over the past six years and it has continued to work, with Morgan's side having won eight of their last twelve games this year.

The likes of Jos Butler and Jason Roy set the tone in the opening position, looking to score as many runs as possible in the Powerplay before Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and of course the number-one-ranked T20I batsman Dawid Malan round out their vaunted batting line-up.

England started off their T20 World Cup campaign by bundling out West Indies for 55 runs in their opening game and lost four wickets in chasing down the paltry target.

Bangladesh may be able to exploit the pitch in the UAE, which has started to become slow and low, making it difficult to score runs freely.