3 takeaways from Bangladesh's 2024 T20 World Cup squad
Bangladesh, on Tuesday, May 14, announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup slated to be held in the West Indies and USA in June.
The squad saw the return of senior batter Mahmudullah, who was not a part of the side for the previous World Cup in Australia in 2022.
Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the side, with Taskin Ahmed as his deputy. Although the latter is nursing an injury, the selectors are confident he will recover in time.
Litton Das, Towhid Hridoy, and Shanto himself will lead the batters while Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, and Shakib Al Hasan are the stars in the bowling unit.
In this listicle, we will take a look at three key takeaways from the squad:
#1 Mahmudullah's return
Senior batter Mahmudullah, who was not a part of the Bangladesh squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, earned a comeback owing to his consistent performances in recent times.
His inclusion in the squad seemed all but certain after he became a major part of the squad in the shortest format in March earlier this year.
The veteran middle-order batter is bound to add a lot of experience and heft to the Bangladeshi batting in this tournament and is expected to deliver whenever the chips are down.
The duo of Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan will have a major role to play for Bangladesh in the West Indies and the USA.
#2 Mohammad Saifuddin's exclusion
Another major talking point in the announcement of the Bangladesh squad is the exclusion of seamer Mohammad Saifuddin from it.
The right-arm pacer (who is a decent bowling all-rounder) was a part of the selectors' plans but was made to sit out of this event in favor of Tanzid Hasan Sakib.
Saifuddin was promoted owing to his ability to consistently bowl yorkers, and his inability to do so of late forced the management to go with Tanzid instead.
"The reason we focused on Saifuddin a lot, although he did not get to bat in three matches, was because of his ability to bowl yorkers. His ability to bowl yorkers was not displayed and there is a lot of improvement to be made. We noticed that there was a difference in his performance from domestic cricket to international cricket," chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said.
Tanzid was also given this opportunity as the selectors felt that his dedication and work ethic set him apart from his competitors.
#3 Spin-heavy bowling attack
As was expected, Bangladesh named an extremely spin-heavy bowling attack for the tournament. Mahedi Hasan, Tanvir Islam, and Rishad Hossain are the specialist spinners in the ranks with Shakib Al Hasan in the all-rounder's role.
This is expected to be a calculated move from the Tigers as the pitches in the West Indies and USA are expected to aid a lot of turn.
If these bowlers get the opportunity to roll their arms over in the tournament, they will be able to help their team bowl opponents out for a lowly total, and in turn allow their batters to play with complete and unrestricted freedom.
While Shakib is expected to lead the spin attack for Bangladesh, the others need to be mindful of their performances too.