BAN vs AFG | Takeaways - Shakib Al Hasan’s glorious run and Bangladesh’s propensity for left-right combo

06/24/2019

Bangladesh increased their chances of qualifying for the semifinals with an authoritative win over Afghanistan in Southampton. While it eventually turned out to be a no-contest, belying the head-to-head history between both teams, they had a lot to learn from the game with their style of play.

How Bangladesh’s hopes of left-right crashed

Bangladesh may not have been a huge fan of match-ups, with their game largely depending on instinct and the performances of a select few, but there has been a tendency to fall back on the right-hander vs off-spinner strategy for the longest time. However, the presence of Soumya Sarkar, who is in very good form this World Cup, and the default opener Tamim Iqbal, had forced the Bangladesh team management to demote Das to the middle-order. Part of that decision was also forced after Shakib Al Hasan wanted to move up the order and batted at No.3 - with good reason, of course.

However, in the game against Afghanistan, Bangladesh made a change to their plans and interchanged Das and Sarkar to give Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s effectiveness a crack. The left-right duo, especially Das because of his right-handedness, was supposed to take Mujeeb from the word go. It was a decision with a conventional cricketing logic but how much thought was put behind the decision?

Afghanistan had Mohammed Nabi and with the Rose Bowl having help for the spinners, it would have been a no brainer for Afghanistan to unleash him. That would’ve gone against Bangladesh’s plan had Mujeeb not done the trick by sending Liton Das back, it was anybody’s guess whose loss it would’ve been. However, the decision has also brought the question - does the cricketing decisions need to be influenced by the dexterity-sinistrality after all?

Shakib - the best ODI all-rounder by distance?

In the mid-game show on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir talked about the contribution of Mushfiqur Rahim and how his performances have slipped under the radar because he plays for Bangladesh. The same can be said about Shakib al Hassan, who despite his inconsistencies, has been a solid performer and arguably, the world’s best all-rounder in the ODI format. If there was any doubt regarding the same, it is being quashed left, right, centre by the, and I use this word very strongly, legendary Bangladeshi - both with bat and ball.

At the heart of it, the way he has done it has been the biggest marker of things for Bangladesh and it was just fitting that he overcame David Warner to emerge as the highest run scorer in the tournament. Those ugly run were important for Bangladesh and it was only those runs, which gave the team belief in their ability. With Mashrafe Mortaza not being the same force that he used to be a couple of years ago, Shakib had another complex job of leading the bowling pack and how good he was in that too. 12 wickets and 476 runs in six games is an outstanding achievement and Bangladesh have their hero to thank for.

When Bangladesh cricket was in the abyss, he emerged as their first superstar and then slowly worked his way towards becoming one of the world’s best all-rounders as well. Now, statistically, he is numero uno and it is time we regard him for what he is worth. He absolutely deserves it and more than him, it is the World Cup which needed his performance to prove his 10-team stance.

Afghanistan’s dogged approach to prove doubters wrong doesn’t take them anywhere

Mohammed Shahzad was that glue in the Afghanistan team which solved a lot of problems for so many years, silently yet effectively. He opens, he keeps wickets and most importantly, he is one of the few real batsmen that Afghanistan have had in their team over the years. After he was sent back home, the team had lost their spine, and more importantly their nerves.

The hole that was left behind by his exclusion was quite evident that to replace him, the team had to draft in two players, an opener and a keeper and the absence not only forced them to change their style of play but also had a big-time bearing on their ambition. They became more regulative than instinctive.

It is very hard to explain whether it was for good or for worse, but one thing was sure that it hardly changed their fortune. Well, they are trying to come out of the T20 mindset but it needs a wholesome thing and a dedicated effort and not a randomised version of playing to the merit of the ball. Shahzad doesn’t do that but he is far more talented to do that too. Afghanistan team might be on the right track to understand the intricacies but the dogged style is not really helping them go anywhere.