Variety aplenty, execution in question

Bangladesh are heading into the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup with their most varied bowling attack in recent memory as their arsenal ticks almost all the boxes but questions remain on how the resources will be used in the USA and the Caribbean.

In the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup, there are four outright fast-bowling options, two right-arm pacers in Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Sakib, and two left-armers -- Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam.

Vice-captain Taskin, who is on his way to full recovery from a side strain, is the leader of the pack. He uses his height and pace to hit the deck hard and can be depended upon with the new ball and the old one.

Tanzim, on the other hand, doesn't have Taskin's height but utilises his lower trajectory to skid the ball off the pitch and is quicker than he seems.

"As a fast bowler, I'm not six feet tall. That's why I needed to have a different set of skills. I try to get the ball to skid, to make it difficult for the batters to face me. As I don't have a height advantage, I try to skid and cut the ball," Tanzim said in a video posted by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on social media yesterday.

Mustafizur will be Bangladesh's X-factor with the ball, with his bag of tricks and cutters, which could prove lethal in the Caribbean and USA pitches.

Shoriful is the ideal left-arm seamer, who can nip the ball back into the right-hander with the new ball and away from the left-hander and has the happy knack of taking wickets in the Powerplay.

In the spin bowling department, the Tigers once again have no shortage in finger spinners, with Shakib Al Hasan leading the charge followed by fellow left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam and off-spin bowling all-rounder Mahedi Hasan.

The one missing link in Bangladesh's attack over the years has also been filled this time with the inclusion of Rishad Hossain, a front-line leg-spinner.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto also has some handy part-time options in Mahmudullah Riyad as an off-spinner and Soumya Sarkar as a medium pacer.

Options may be aplenty for Bangladesh, but that's not enough to ensure good results, proved by what transpired in the first match of the recently concluded T20I series against the USA, which the Tigers lost 2-1.

In that match, Bangladesh had the USA cornered with the hosts needing 54 off the final four overs.

Mustafizur, Bangladesh's go-to death over bowler, and Shoriful then bowled the next three overs. Mustafizur conceded 17 and 15 runs in the 17th and 19th over respectively while Shoriful leaked 14 runs in the 18th and eventually, USA won the match by five wickets and three balls to spare.

Their failure to keep Harmeet Singh and an out-of-his-prime Corey Anderson quiet in those overs showed that ticking the boxes in terms of variety is not enough. For the bowling attack to do well in the T20 World Cup, the captain's intentions and the bowlers' execution have to be in sync. Otherwise, more such embarrassments may be lurking in the future.