One of Bangladesh’s most experienced players, Shakib Al Hasan has shown his frustration towards the preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, set to take place in the United States of America (USA) and the West Indies.
Bangladesh are currently preparing for the global event against Zimbabwe in a five-match T20I series at home. They are also scheduled to lock horns with the USA side in a three-match T20I series, starting on May 21, 2024.
As a part of the preparation for the last T20 World Cup in 2022 in Australia, Bangladesh was involved in a tri-nation series against New Zealand and Pakistan. They earned two victories against the Netherlands and Zimbabwe during the campaign before getting eliminated from the tournament.
‘It’s inhuman to be in the ground under this heat’- Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan who has led the Bangladesh side for 13-long years between 2009 and 2022 in 120 matches across all three formats, expressed his displeasure towards the way they are preparing for the forthcoming tournament.
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‘It will be wrong if we think about the World Cup by considering our performance against Zimbabwe and USA.’ Shakib Al Hasan said in an interview in Dhaka. ‘World Cup will be played in a different place and the more we can handle pressure, chances will be higher of doing well’
Shakib Al Hasan is the eighth-highest run-scorer of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history with 742 runs in 36 innings at an average of 23.93 and a strike rate of 122.44 with three fifties.
‘In the last World Cup, we performed reasonably and though we didn’t do extremely well no one will say we did bad.’ The all-rounder expressed to the reporters in Dhaka. ‘If that’s our benchmark then we have a chance of crossing it in this World Cup and if we want to do that we have to win three matches in the first round.’
Shakib also feels that their T20I series against the USA will help them adapt to the conditions, but it’s still not an ideal series.
‘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 players in USA.’ Shakib Al Hasan expressed. ‘Very few have the experience of playing there in Florida, and we will get accustomed with the conditions by playing but at the same time I would say this is not ideal (preparation-wise).
The left-arm spinner is the highest wicket-taker of the tournament history with 47 scalps in 35 innings at an economy of just 6.78.
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‘In Australia (T20 World Cup in 2022) we went after playing against New Zealand and Pakistan and also certainly we went to the World Cup on the back of very good preparation and taking that into consideration that’s not ideal.’ A frustrated Shakib Al Hasan informed. ‘But this is the best we can as far as preparation is concerned.’
The former captain also questioned the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for not organizing the country’s List A tournament, the ongoing Dhaka Premier League (DPL) in the T20 version for this year.
‘It would have been better if the Super League (DPL) is played in T20 format. It’s human to be in the ground for the whole day under this heat.’ Shakib Al Hasan noted the struggles of playing under the current heatwave in Bangladesh. ‘It could be handled more responsibly. We have T20 World Cup ahead and in that case, it would have been helpful for the national team. Somehow it didn’t happen.’
They will begin their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign on June 08 against Sri Lanka at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.