One of the strongest sides in the Asia Cup 2023, Bangladesh, is having a lacklustre campaign in the tournament. The side finished in second place in their group with one win in two matches. Qualifying for the Super Four stage of the competition, Bangladesh are yet to win a game. They faced Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Four and lost both of those matches.
Seeing their form, many have come forward to opine that it is Bangladesh's batting that is holding them back. Recently taking on Sri Lanka, Bangladesh aimed to chase down a target of 258 runs in 50 overs. However, the top order failed to make an impact, and only Towhid Hridoy played a good knock.
Seeing their performance, ODI skipper Shakib Al Hasan came forward to opine that their batting has been going downward in recent times. He also stated that this reality check was very important ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023, which is rapidly approaching.
"Our batting is going downwards for the last six months (in ODIs) since the series against England and later Afghanistan, now in this tournament, and we need to work on it," Shakib Al Hasan was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
"We are concerned with our batting and we need to see those areas and work on it so that we can rectify those areas. This tournament before the World Cup will be hugely beneficial because we need to have a reality check," he added.
You cannot say we are a bad team: Shakib
Shakib also stated that Bangladesh always manages to perform in bilateral series. However, it is in the major tournaments that they falter. He talked of the side’s record in the World Cup and was thankful that the Asia Cup provided them with a reality check.
"We always play well in bilateral series and you cannot say we are a bad team but our big test is taken in this kind of tournament where we don't perform extraordinarily. We won three matches in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 World Cup so people can say a lot of things but when we have a reality check usually we fail. It is good that the tournament was played before the World Cup and everyone will think how we can solve this problem and only after that can we do better," Shakib said.
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