World Cup 2023: Bangladesh fail to impress in golden generation's last dance

Bangladesh have improved by leaps and bounds ever since they burst into the cricketing mainstream with its ICC World Cup debut in 1999 and Test debut the following year. Not only have the Tigers unearthed a handful of stars along the way including a certain individual who will go down as one of the best of his generation, their performance as a team has also gone up several notches in the years that have passed by. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table Bangladesh, after all, are a team that has beaten India twice now in consecutive ODI series at home, even if those two assignments took place with a gap of eight years. They have also pipped teams such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to finish Asia Cup runners-up thrice in the previous decade. Though they are yet to make their mark in Tests, especially against the powerhouse teams, they have transformed into a fiercely competitive side in the white-ball formats, especially in subcontinental conditions. It is for that reason that Bangladesh were expected to dish out a strong performance in the 2023 ICC World Cup in India, where the surfaces and weather conditions aren’t too dissimilar from what they would find back home. Bangladesh had advanced beyond the group stage on two occasions, in the ground-breaking 2007 and the 2015 editions where they would reach the Super Eights and the quarter-finals respectively, but had never gone as far as the semi-finals. This would have been a perfect opportunity for them to end that long wait.

Instead, Bangladesh’s campaign, much like Sri Lanka’s and Pakistan’s, ended in a whimper with a lopsided defeat in Pune against five-time world champions Australia. The Tigers, who were without captain and key player Shakib Al Hasan for their final game of the tournament, had succeeded in going past 300 for the first time in the tournament in a completed innings with Towhid Hridoy’s 74 helping them post a competitive 306/8 on the board. And they were staring at the prospect of beating Australia only for the second time in one-dayers after Taskin Ahmed cleaned up Travis Head early, leaving them in a precarious position of 12/1. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh however, slammed his career-best score of 177 not out, building sizeable partnerships with David Warner (53) and Steve Smith (63 not out) worth 120 and 175 respectively as the Pat Cummins-led side chased the target down with eight wickets and nearly six overs to spare. Bangladesh began their campaign on a promising note by defeating Afghanistan rather comfortably in what was supposed to be a tightly fought contest in Dharamsala. Instead, while the Afghans would go on to have a standout campaign where they would defeat teams such as England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh would end up losing seven of their next eight matches and would become the first team to bow out of the race to the semis. So where exactly did things go wrong for them in this campaign? And were there any positives whatsoever from an otherwise disappointing run? Here’s more on that: Shakib fails to lead from the front Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, widely considered the greatest cricketer the country’s ever produced, was back at the helm in a World Cup campaign for the first time since the 2011 edition that Bangladesh co-hosted along with India and Sri Lanka. The circumstances under which Shakib regained captaincy, however, were far from ideal. The Tigers were going through a leadership crisis following Tamim Iqbal’s retirement drama in July and turned to Shakib for the Asia Cup and the World Cup while leaving out the senior opener from both tournaments, primarily owing to fitness concerns. [caption id=“attachment_13313402” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan couldn’t quite recreate his magic in the 2019 World Cup four years later in India. AP[/caption] The off-field drama, which included Shakib slamming long-time teammate Tamim and accusing him of being “childish”, could have had an impact on his performance both as a captain and as a key member of both the batting and bowling departments. He was among the standout performers in the 2019 edition in England with 606 runs at an average of 86.57 along with 11 wickets that included a five-for. This time around, he didn’t even collect half as many runs (186 at 26.57) even if he played a game less this time around, although his contributions with the ball (9 wickets at 36.55) were a lot better. A captain is expected to lead from the front and set an example for his teammates as Rohit Sharma has been going with the Indian team in what has been a stellar campaign for the Men in Blue in their home World Cup. The only time Shakib led from the front in the otherwise forgettable campaign was in Bangladesh’s two victories in nine outings, collecting 3/30 against Afghanistan in the tournament opener and dishing out a superb 82 against Sri Lanka in a challenging chase. More than his contributions with bat and ball, Shakib’s participation in the 2023 World Cup will forever be remembered for the bizarre event that was Angelo Mathews' 'Timed Out' dismissal in Delhi, which will have further vilified him in the eyes of Sri Lankan fans and intensified the rivalry between the two nations. Miraz blows hot and cold; Issues at the top of the order A captain is only as good as his team however, and there isn’t much Shakib can do if the rest of the Bangladesh don’t stand up and pull their side out of trouble. They simply couldn’t muster enough match-winning performances from other members of the squad for them to make their presence felt in the competition and fight for a top-four finish. Only one batter, Mahmudullah, managed to cross the 300-run mark at the end of the tournament. And only two bowlers — Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam — managed to grab 10 wickets or more across the entire campaign. A lot was also expected from all-rounder Miraz, considered to be Shakib’s successor as the team’s primary spin-bowling all-rounder, and he did get his campaign off to a solid start with an all-round display against Afghanistan (3/25 and 57) at the start of the tournament. The 26-year-old, however, would cross 30 with the bat just twice in the remaining games and his only other performance of note with the ball was his 3/60 against Pakistan in Kolkata in a match where none of his teammates could dismiss a single batter. [caption id=“attachment_13218112” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Bangladesh spin-bowling all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz was adjudged the Player of the Match against Afghanistan for his 3/25 as well as his 73-ball 57. AP[/caption] A core issue with Bangladesh’s performances with the bat in this World Cup was the lack of solid starts at the top, and it was evident that they were missing Tamim’s reassuring presence as an opener. Litton Das had his moments with a couple of half-centuries and Tanzim Hasan Tamim scored a lone fifty. The Tigers stuck with this pair throughout their campaign, even if their partnerships crossed the 50-mark only twice including a 93-run stand against India in Pune. Several other senior players with plenty of experience also failed to come up with meaningful contributions. Wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim barely crossed the 200-run mark (202 runs at 25.25) while pacers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman collected five wickets each at an average of 61 and 79.60, which was all the more disappointing especially since the Bangladesh Cricket Board had hired South African pace legend Allan Donald as their fast-bowling coach. Mahmudullah stands out; Shanto emerges as a leadership candidate It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Bangladeshis in the 2023 World Cup though. Mahmudullah was their standout player by a fair distance. The batter, who is in the twilight of his career at 37 years of age, collected 328 runs at an average of 54.66 including a fighting 111 against South Africa that helped significantly reduce the margin of defeat, as well as a 36-ball 46 against India that allowed the Tigers to cross the 250-mark. What was even more impressive was that Mahmdullah was their leading run-scorer despite batting in the lower middle-order for a majority of their campaign, sometimes as low as No 8, from where one normally faces only a handful of deliveries in the final stretch of an innings. Mahdmullah is likely making his final appearance in an ICC World Cup, and given was not part of last year’s T20 World Cup, he might very well have made his final appearance at an ICC event. If that indeed is the case, then he will have signed off on a high.

A sublime third World Cup hundred from Mahmudullah Riyad!💯#BCB | #SAvBAN | #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/RDQujwwz1h

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 24, 2023

And with Shakib unlikely to continue as captain beyond the World Cup and Tamim having already stepped down, Bangladesh also found a potential candidate for long-term leadership in Najmul Hossain Shanto, who had been named Shakib’s deputy at the time of the squad being announced and led the Tigers in their matches against India and Bangladesh. “I’ve been doing it for a while now and personally, I think I’m ready. If I get the opportunity, definitely, I’m ready to do it perfectly,” Shanto said after the match against Australia on Saturday. “I have nothing to say further about my captaincy, but I have learned a lot since it was my first World Cup. I played one-day cricket against such big teams, I played in such an environment. This experience will help me,” added Shanto, who had a mixed run with the bat with a couple of fifties but a string of single-digit scores. Things didn’t go quite as per plan for the Bangladeshis in what is likely the final World Cup appearance for the golden generation comprising Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, and Tamim’s fitness concerns at 34 years of age make him an unlikely candidate for the 2027 edition in South Africa. Fortunately for Bangladesh, they’ve managed to hold on to the eighth spot on the points table that will allow entry into the 2025 Champions Trophy. With that in mind, it’s time for the Tigers to start afresh after the World Cup with an eye on the future. Bangladesh results in 2023 World Cup: vs Afghanistan in Dharamsala: Won by 6 wickets vs England in Dharamsala: Lost by 137 runs vs New Zealand in Chennai: Lost by 8 wickets vs India in Pune: Lost by 7 wickets vs South Africa in Mumbai: Lost by 149 runs vs Netherlands in Kolkata: Lost by 87 runs vs Pakistan in Kolkata: Lost by 7 wickets vs Sri Lanka in Delhi: Won by 3 wickets vs Australia in Pune: Lost by 8 wickets