Taskin urges BCB to prepare ‘better’ pitches at home to improve T20 team

What happens in the aftermath of two huge defeats in India? For Bangladesh, it is less about trying to improve their batting or bowling, rather a discussion about having better pitches back home. Bangladesh’s players have told the BCB that they need to play on better tracks at home to have any chance of improving in T20s and compete against teams like India.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had touched on the need for better pitches back home after the loss in the first T20I against India on Sunday, after which the BCB president Faruque Ahmed held a lengthy discussion on the subject in a press briefing earlier this week. Faruque even hinted that they would consider the future of the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s curator Gamini Silva. Now, after the 86-run defeat to India in the second T20I in Delhi on Thursday, Taskin Ahmed further emphasised on the need to have better pitches at home to get used to posting high totals, while admitting there was a “lot of room for improvement” in the team.

“We have to improve our skills, but we also need to play on better wickets back home,” Taskin said. “These are the main reasons [for the defeat]. We have informed the board, so I am sure they are thinking about [better pitches]. They gave us hope that they will make things better. It is up to them how they will improve conditions back home.”

Taskin said that Bangladesh bank heavily only on a select few members contributing to a total; so when the top order failed against India in the second game, they had little chance to chase down 222.

“The average score in Delhi is more than 200 runs. Both [Gwalior and Delhi] were good to bat but we didn’t bat well,” Taskin said. “We didn’t play to our potential. We didn’t have a good game. We had to go hard at their big total. There’s not much to do in a T20 when the top five or six batters fail.

“We haven’t done well as a team in the two T20Is, which is sad for us. We are the sort of team [in which] we need 80% of our team to win a game. We can’t win with [just] one or two [players] doing well. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Bangladesh’s batting failure was in stark contrast to how India batted smoothly despite slipping to 41 for 3 in the sixth over. Newcomer Nitish Kumar Reddy and finisher Rinku Singh counterattacked with a 108-run fourth-wicket partnership, with both scoring rapid fifties before Hardik Pandya and Riyan Parag took India past 200. Taskin said India playing most of their cricket on good batting pitches has helped them hit big.

“Most matches in IPL are high-scoring. They know how to chase big targets, and build high scores,” Taskin said. “What [scores like] 130-150 is for us, is 180-200 for them. We need to grow this habit [of scoring big], but I hope we have better home conditions so that we develop the ability to score and chase big targets. Of course, we should also play more franchise tournaments, which will give us better experience.

“You need everything [to be a big-hitter] – power, technique, ability and adaptation. If you see the way they hit those sixes so fluently, I am sure if we try to hit those shots sitting or lying down in our home conditions, we would get hit in the face. They grew this habit from their childhood to play on good wickets. This is their biggest strength in bowling and batting.”

Taskin was Bangladesh’s standout bowler in Delhi, giving away just 16 runs in his four overs while also taking two wickets. The pace bowlers combined to take six wickets in 12 overs which cost 102 runs. The spinners, though, bowled eight overs which went for 14.50 an over, something which cost Bangladesh the game. It is worrying that the spinners couldn’t put together good spells in the first series since Shakib Al Hasan announced his retirement from T20Is.

“Shakib bhai is someone who is always an important player for us. The reality is that he will retire soon [from Tests as well],” Taskin said. “We have to stand up without him. Definitely, he is an all-time legend. We will miss him.

“I think we started well in the powerplay. They batted really well towards the end to get a big total. Unfortunately, the spinners had a bad day. There was also dew. It is the nature of T20s. Anything can happen any time. I think we could have chased a target of 180 or 190. We failed to make runs, but it was a good wicket.”

Taskin conceded that Bangladesh aren’t adapting quickly to better batting conditions too, which is an overall “failure” of their T20 approach.

“We haven’t improved in T20s. It is our failure,” he said. “Regardless of wickets back home, we are not doing well in better conditions. We are trying hard to improve, and we are hoping we can improve. That’s all we can do.”