Time for Bangladesh to learn from Windies fall

Following a dramatic group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia that saw the Netherlands and Zimbabwe qualify for the Super 12 and join Bangladesh in Group 2, raising hopes among Tigers fans when it comes to Bangladesh winning a couple of games in the mega-event.

The Dutch finished as runners-up in Group A while Zimbabwe romped into the Super 12 as the champions from Group B in the first round. They will join Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and South Africa in Group 2.

The biggest miss from the Super 12 will be two-time World Cup champions, the West Indies, who were sent back home after a stunning nine-wicket defeat to Ireland.

Bangladesh may get weaker opponents on pen and paper in Netherlands and Zimbabwe, but prominent coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim believes it will not be a walk in the park in the Super 12.

"Teams like Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe play cricket at a certain level. The worrying part is that they have played a competitive qualifying round, which has helped them. When they enter the Super 12, they will be at their peak. Their primary goal has been achieved and they will start the Super 12 with that satisfaction, which will help them to play freely," Fahim told The Daily Star yesterday.

"These things will work in their favour. On the other hand, Bangladesh have to prove everything. It's not that Bangladesh do not have quality. We may also be ahead of those teams in terms of strength. But it will be interesting to see how Bangladesh cope with the challenge and expectations."

The mentor to many prominent cricketers in the country also said the Tigers needed to learn from the West Indies' early exit.

"They are the mighty West Indies and dominated world cricket at one point. There is no chance for anyone to doubt their quality or caliber. Even after their early exit, I am sure the other cricketing nations are concerned about it because it hampers the overall quality of cricket. Keeping in mind what they have done before, everyone will be with the West Indies.

"But if we make mistakes and fall down to such a stage, where Zimbabwe were not so long ago or like what happened with Kenya, I don't think there would be many to support us since we haven't had such contributions. The fact is that many don't want us to be playing cricket at the top level, so we need to be careful about this," he said.

According to Fahim, Bangladesh's gradual decline is spiraling towards darkness, so he urged authorities to rebuild and restructure the country's cricket before it breaks down.