- June 3, 2025
The T20 series for Bangladesh in Lahore came to an end with a disappointing loss of 3-0 to Pakistan. With a narrow defeat of 2-1 to the UAE before that, the Tigers just couldn’t find their feet. While the ending was disheartening on the score sheet, we did see some hopeful signs, as well as some issues we all know too well. Let’s discuss what went well, what didn’t go well, and what we need to see fixed going forward.
Fresh Faces at the Top: Promising Openers but Still Learning
One of the few silver linings was the emergence of Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain as Bangladesh’s new T20 opening pair. Aggression at the top? Finally! Tanzid was especially impressed with his clarity in hitting boundaries and fearlessness in hitting sixes in the powerplay against UAE and Pakistan. Parvez may not be as explosive as Tanzid, but he has demonstrated solid batting and the ability to build partnerships.
It feels like Bangladesh might have finally found a T20 opening pair who are willing to take the attack to the opposition, which has not been the case for some time. They are still young and raw and will need more experience to consistently cope under pressure. The foundations look good, but it is still a work in progress.
Middle Order Missteps and Management Stubbornness
If the openers did give us a glimmer of hope, the middle order could not extinguish that flame any further. The management certainly did not help their cause, endorsing junior members of the team, captain Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy, to stay at the creases, whilst they floundered. With Tanzid opening the innings, wouldn’t Jaker Ali have been the ideal choice to capitalize on the extra deliveries available? Sadly, there appeared to be a dogmatic approach to the playing order of batters.
With Litton unsure of whether to settle in or to go after it and Hridoy not hitting from his peak, this seemingly conscious approach to batting lost any semblance of momentum and ultimately left far too much for the last order. That often fails in T20! Management needs to incorporate some flexibility into this approach, but also be willing to change during an innings when a batsman is feeling good!
Bowling Woes and Spin Struggles
Bowling was Bangladesh’s Achilles’ heel in Lahore – no surprises, but disappointing to see all the same. The injury to fast bowlers Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur Rahman left very few fast bowling options, and, with new faces like Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Hasan Mahmud, there was little ability to control the run flow.
Shakib Al Hasan’s seasoned touch was sorely missed in our spin lineup. Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain failed to make any more than the slightest impact on the very batting-friendly pitches to contain any run flow. Missing the earlier T20 World Cup and now not looking anything like his form, Rishad looked unsure, particularly with how he bowled to slog sweeps.
It would be nice for Bangladesh to have to re-evaluate their spin bowling. New lines and/or variations, and with fast bowling allrounders being fast-tracked; at the moment, allrounders are primarily spinners with batting capacity, hence an imbalance of a bowling attack. Tanzim did show glimpses of decency with limited genuine pace all-rounders.
The Lahore series was a dispiriting repeat of the Bangladesh T20 experience of late. Nevertheless, the energetic attitude exhibited by the new opening pairing and glimpses of the excitement in the younger players provide some hope ahead. The true test will be whether the management of the team is willing to review their approach, take riskier decisions and selections by pushing in-form players through the system.
For more, visit JeetBuzz News to read our quality Cricket Blog updates. Explore if you want to reminisce and enjoy all of your favourite cricket players and nostalgic match moments. To ensure that you never miss out, keep updated and join in the fun!
