Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s most successful ODI captain, already has his retirement plan in place. Life in politics awaits after he became the first active cricketer to be a Member of Parliament by winning in the 2018 general elections. Before that, the 35-year-old has some unfinished business. Under his leadership, the Tigers got to the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal and the 2017 Champions Trophy semifinal. They are no longer just making up numbers.
In fact, in what will be his last World Cup, Mortaza could very well be helming one of the strongest Bangladesh teams going to a World Cup. The evidence of that is clear from the 2018 they’ve had. They reached the Asia Cup final, where they lost by a whisker to India. They recorded 13 wins out of 20, including a series victory against West Indies.
To put this into perspective, the only other teams that registered more wins in that time frame were India (14 out of 20) and England (17 out of 24). Like Mortaza, England will most likely be the last World Cup for other torchbearers Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Shakib Al Hasan.
With form and experience backing them, expect them to go for the jugular. Don’t rule out Bangladesh doing what India did in 1983 or Sri Lanka in 1996. Stranger things have happened!
Featuring
Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain.
Head coach: Steve Rhodes
Strengths
Bangladesh have a strong core in Mortaza, Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim. These players have been around for a long time, and have most departments covered. Theirs is a settled squad, which has largely remained unchanged since the 2017 Champions Trophy. A big plus is that Shakib, Mortaza and Mahmudullah all come under the all-rounder category.
Weaknesses
The team’s batsmen could struggle in English conditions. Bangladeshi batsmen have performed well in the subcontinent. That’s where most of their success has come from. Even though England has been doling pancake pitches in recent years, the possibility of the ball wobbling around may see them struggle. That they still don’t have a settled opening combination could complicate things. Tamim has been their default opener, but they will have to decide on who will partner him.
Banking on
Tamim Iqbal
Tamim has been Bangladesh’s batting mainstay. The left-hander has the ability to change gears depending on the team’s needs. The experienced opener has given Bangladesh good starts on which they construct their innings.
Mustafizur Rahman
The left-arm seamer will be making his World Cup debut. English conditions will perfectly suit the 23-year-old who was the only Bangladeshi player to be included in 2018’s ICC ODI Team of the Year. Has been earmarked as the future of Bangladesh cricket.