One thing that has been evident from the 2023 ODI World Cup is that when playing on flat decks, Bangladesh often fail to approach the game in a manner that could help them get big runs in their favourite format.

A recurring pattern was seen in the Tigers' ongoing ODI series against hosts West Indies -- a few batters managed to get some runs but the burst of acceleration needed in modern cricket was amiss, seeing the team settle for middling scores.

Even while playing on good batting surfaces, Bangladesh batters wear the same look of helplessness. They lose wickets in pairs, as they did in the second ODI against the Windies on Wednesday. Having failed to defend 294 in the first game, they looked out of sorts defending an even lower total of 227 runs in the second ODI yesterday.

It is as if the Tigers' grasp on their favourite format is slipping in spite of great conditions for batting. This year they have played just eight ODIs, losing five -- and it was the batting that let the Tigers down on most occassions.

Bangladesh won 2-1 against Sri Lanka in March, their only ODI series win this year. In both the games that Bangladesh won, scores they needed to chase were around the 230-240 mark.

However, exciting shot-making in T20s has made it so that the ODI batting standard has also gone up a few gears.

Over the last decade, Bangladesh found a formula they were comfortable with. They targeted scores around 250 -- the norm on low and slow tracks such as those in Mirpur. The winning formula -- most witnessed during Chandika Hathurusingha's first stint -- is that the opposition batters generally found it difficult to time their shots on such surfaces.

But with T20s dominating the landscape of white-ball cricket for a considerable period now, batters nowadays do not always wait for the last 10 overs or the first Powerplay to score in bulk in ODIs -- case in point was how Sherfane Rutherford made up for dots played in the initial overs with a flurry of boundaries to help the Windies assail the 295-run target with 14 balls to spare in the first ODI against Bangladesh.

The Tigers' only problem is not the lack of explosive innings. Even when Soumya Sarkar made 169 against New Zealand in Nelson last year, none of the other batters played around this innings -- something that the Windies did in the first ODI.

Another such instance was when Towhid Hridoy scored an unbeaten 96 on a good surface in Chattogram in March this year, but the Tigers' total remained in and around their ODI threshold as they made 286 in a game that they eventually lost by three wickets. Soumya and Najmul Hossain Shanto got runs in that match but were not able to stick around for long.

In those matches, the set batter could not go for acceleration at opportune moments -- another problem for Bangladesh alongside the lack of explosiveness in the batting order.

While other top cricketing nations have already adapted to the modern style of cricket, Bangladesh seem to be way beyond in terms of understanding the new pattern of cricket that the modern era demands -- a sign that does not augur well for the Tigers with the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 just over a month away.