Tigers must ‘go back to the drawing board’

Bangladesh cricket's lamentable state of affairs following their abysmal T20 world cup campaign in the middle east has brought backlash on all fronts from the press and social media alike.

The downpour of criticisms, and remedies too, after each disastrous display seems almost normalised for someone who has been familiar with Bangladesh cricket over the years.  

Despite the familiarity, it all went a few notches higher yesterday as ex-cricketers and cricket experts took to the social media after the Tigers had surrendered tenderly by eight wickets to Australia in their final group match, having previously lost four on the trot in Super 12 stage.    

Perhaps the harshest criticism came from the great Aussie batter Mark Waugh, who spoke on Fox Cricket and had termed the Tigers' batting 'embarrassing' and went on to compare it as worse than 'third grade in the park' and later he even apologised to park cricketers for bringing them into comparison.    

Waugh's comment might not have matched what he is known for -- as an elegant batter during his time – however,  renowned Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle has seemed to have hit the nail on the head with his tweet:

"Very disappointing from #Bangladesh. They have ended the tournament with a 2-6 W/L record and have no choice but to go back to the drawing board. Just as worrisome is the fact that talented players aren't rising to the level they should."

Elsewhere, cricket writers, the likes of Freddie Wilde and Daniel Cherny voiced their observations on the back of the Tiger's latest shambolic showcase in the ongoing marquee event and based on their cumulative display over the years.

"Bangladesh's progress over the past 25 years has felt like seven steps forward, six steps backward, on repeat. There are gains but painstakingly slow," Cherny tweeted.

"#BNG been the biggest disappointment of the #T20WorldCup. Their bowling has been fine but their batting is a mess. Feel the coaching staff who may take the blame for this World Cup; there's only so much they can do with this group who lack power & are exposed v pace & bounce," Wilde tweeted.

With all being said and done, for now at least, almost all the national cricketers are set to land in Dhaka today. However, the words of the younger Waugh brother would linger in the air for quite sometime.