Time to step out of the Mirpur bubble?

Following a memorable six-wicket win over England in the first T20I on a sporting wicket in Chattogram last week, there remains a lot of focus on the nature of the Mirpur's surface on which the second T20I is set to be played today.

It will be interesting to see whether it will be a typical Mirpur surface – a low and slow one – or similar to the one used at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city. 

This is set to be the first-ever T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium for England, the reigning T20I and ODI champions. If history is anything to go by, a typical Mirpur pitch could well be Bangladesh's best bet today as it was the slow and low nature of the Mirpur surfaces that had played the crucial role in the Tigers registering their maiden series victories over Australia and New Zealand in 2021.

With the Tigers aiming the same -- a first-ever T20I series victory over England -- is walking down the same line the preferred way to go?

However, it must still be fresh in the memory of the Bangladesh players how gaining a false sense of achievement by beating the Kiwis and the Aussies had panned out for them in the 2021 T20 World Cup -- the Tigers exited that tournament with no wins.    

The Chattogram win was courtesy of a collective approach from a rejuvenated T20 side, and the momentum gained from that can only truly be utilised if the Tigers play on a sporting wicket  at their favourite hunting ground today. 

After registering their maiden T20I win against England in Chattogram last week, Bangladesh players had every reason to be in a jovial mood on Saturday ahead of the three-match series decider in Mirpur today. But so were the visitors as they too had a lively training session yesterday, indicating that the reigning world champions are not to be bogged down at the possibility of suffering a first-ever series loss to Bangladesh in the format. PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

Earlier in the series, the first of the three-match ODI series on a sluggish Mirpur surface almost went in favour of the Tigers when Bangladesh managed to post a small total of 209 before forcing England to play till the penultimate over to eek out a three-wicket victory.

In T20Is, the average first-innings total in Mirpur is 144. However, in the last five T20Is, the average total has been 126 while the last five Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) games produced 164 in the first innings -- a fact reflecting how uncertain the venue can be. 

However, skipper Shakib had previously talked about how they aim to emerge as a better T20 unit, and if that ideology is to be followed, the Bangladesh think tank could as well take the challenge of playing on a sporting Mirpur wicket.

"I think, as the game will be played in Mirpur, it will be a good wicket. Till now we have played well , having beaten England in Chattogram. We will try to beat them here," pacer Hasan Mahmud, who bowled brilliantly in the death overs in the first T20I, told the reporters ahead of the second game yesterday.

It is not like that Mirpur did not produce better surfaces in the past. Even in the recently concluded BPL, sporting Mirpur surfaces brought out the best in the players as it allowed the local cricketers to express themselves both with bat and ball. 

"It was challenging for me and it was difficult to defend during the BPL. But we can learn playing on such wickets because it helps us to learn how to bowl well against good teams. We have a good pace unit and we can defend here as well," Hasan added.

Slow and low Mirpur surfaces had always been the Tigers' prime weapon to take down visitors -- especially the ones from outside the subcontinent. While there is nothing wrong in taking full advantage of home conditions, as coach Chandika Hathurusingha had also mentioned before the England series, it may be the perfect time for the Tigers to finally step out of the Mirpur bubble if they truly seek to be a transformed T20 unit.