Message sent regarding intent

Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud had a fiery press conference on Wednesday on the eve of the crucial encounter against Sri Lanka, unrelenting in his disappointment regarding the performances of the players in the Afghanistan game.

But while talking outside of the press conference, he was feeling the intensity of having to make do with stop-gap solutions due to injuries to key players.

Bangladesh's 17-member squad will have to be slimmed to 15 for the upcoming T20 World Cup and the team director rued the fact that four key players were unable to feature in a tournament as crucial as the Asia Cup.

"We left four players at home. There were injuries so we can't do anything about that. We needed Liton [Das], Yasir [Ali], [Nurul Hasan] Sohan and Hasan [Mahmud] a lot," Mahmud had said.

For large portions of that press conference, the team director rued the approach of batters.

"Rashid [Khan], [Mohammad] Nabi and Mujeeb [Ur Rahman] do not only create problems for us but batters all over the world. Maybe we had difficulty adjusting to the wicket, but even then I would say that we were far off the mindset we talked about," he had pointed out, indicating that struggling against Afghanistan spinners was the norm but that the approach was wrong. It could be surmised that the lack of intent in trying to go for shots against lose deliveries was disappointing for the team management.

With the World Cup in mind, at least six or seven players in the existing squad will have to make way for those players.

Liton Das has been a revelation across formats and, not long ago, had been Bangladesh's key weapon with the bat in T20s. Sohan had proven himself capable of delivering big hits with consistency at the death while Yasir Ali showed promise, intent and ability. Pacer Hasan Mahmud had picked up early wickets in Zimbabwe and was certain to make the playing eleven in the Asia Cup until injury.

If Liton comes in, a change in the opening slots is inevitable. With Yasir returning, there will be changes in middle order. Afif Hossain has been touted as the future, thus veterans Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad's position in the side could come into question.

"If you are afraid of losing your place in the side, you will never perform in international matches," Mahmud had said on Wednesday.

Changes were already made for yesterday's game against Sri Lanka yesterday when Sabbir Rahman and Mehedi Hasan Miraz replaced Anamul Haque Bijoy and Mohammad Naim as openers.

The two began with gusto. Miraz in particular was very effective during a 26-ball 38 as Bangladesh reached 55 runs for the loss of one wicket in the Powerplay. More importantly, the required intent was shown.

But with some players inevitably now aware their positions will be in question, their approach remains to be seen. Confidence is a two-way street and the team management may ultimately opt to back youth over experience without intent.

Whether the message has already been sent will be clear soon.