Shakib Al Hasan voiced concerns about Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup preparation, suggesting that their current schedule fails to adequately prepare them for the tournament.
Shakib Al Hasan suggested Bangladesh could have better prepared for the T20 World Cup 2024 by adjusting their international and domestic schedules. Currently engaged in a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at home, followed by matches against the United States, Shakib believes this doesn’t adequately challenge them for the tournament.
“It will be wrong if we think about the World Cup by considering our performance against Zimbabwe and USA. World Cup will be played in a different place and the more we can handle pressure, chances will be higher of doing well,” Shakib told reporters.
Reflecting on their preparation, Shakib Al Hasan acknowledged the significance of adapting to different conditions, citing the USA series as a means to familiarize themselves.
“A big reason behind playing against USA is to get adapted to their conditions and to know about the place because there are not too many players who played in USA. Very few have the experience of playing there in Florida (2018) and we will get accustomed with the conditions by playing this series but at the same time I would say this is not ideal (preparation-wise). In Australia (T20 World Cup in 2022) we went after playing against New Zealand and Pakistan and so certainly we went to the World Cup on the back of very good preparation and taking that into consideration this is not ideal. But this is the best we can as far as preparation is concerned,” Shakib said.
Amidst a severe heatwave in Bangladesh, Shakib also criticized the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision not to organize the Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier League in the T20 format. The 37-year-old suggested that playing all day in scorching conditions is inhumane and could have been handled more responsibly. He further emphasized the importance of T20 practice ahead of the T20 World Cup, expressing disappointment that this opportunity was missed.
Bangladesh, grouped with Sri Lanka, South Africa, Netherlands, and Nepal, will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 8 in Dallas.
Last Updated on May 5, 2024
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