Not the time for celebrations, says Fahim

Bangladesh had their best performance in the ICC T20 World Cup this time around, getting two wins in the main round for the first time. Shakib Al Hasan and Co. could even have secured qualification to the semifinals in Australia had they beaten Pakistan in their last Super 12 game in Adelaide.

But prominent coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim believes Bangladesh should focus on forming a balanced T20I team instead of being consumed by the satisfaction of having played their best T20 World Cup.

The Tigers sealed hard-fought wins over the Netherlands and Zimbabwe before a 104-run defeat to South Africa, a typically heartbreaking loss to India by five runs and a five-wicket defeat to Pakistan.

There was little consistency in their batting department in the five World Cup matches, with one-off individual performances leading the way. An inability to tackle pressure situations also dented Bangladesh in crunch games.

 "If we look at the performances from the players considering their ability, the outcome was very poor. A majority of them did not perform. If we look at the batters, there were only two innings from Najmul Hossain Shanto and one innings from Liton Das. None of them were able to perform," Fahim told The Daily Star on Monday.

 "But the bowling was relatively good. We managed to win two games courtesy of our pace bowlers. If we were able to get the best out of the players, it would have been great. It would also have been great if the management was unsatisfied with the team's performance. It may be the best performance in terms of stats, but if a lower-ranked team finishes above you in the table, I don't think there is anything to celebrate.

 "We might have to play against these opponents in the coming days and it will be important how we are going to tackle them. Personally, I am not comfortable with the team's performance at the World Cup," he said.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan had informed ahead of the team's departure for Australia that their focus was on the next T20 World Cup. With two years to go until that event, it will be key to prepare a settled team.

 "It is hard to tell [whether the current team is settled or not]. I think there will be quite a few changes if we play a T20 series in the future, which will indicate that we are not a settled team yet. I was unable to have faith in Yasir Ali in the middle order. Nurul Hasan Sohan was unable to live up to expectations, as did Afif Hossain.

 "I think we still lack in these areas, which reflects that we are still unprepared. It's different to play the lead role and a supporting role. Those who are relatively less experienced, like Afif, Yasir and Sohan, are used to supporting roles. They were given leading roles and it was different for them. All of them were elevated to leading roles," said Fahim.