Bangladesh cricket team is determined to develop big-hitting ability in T20s with ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in mind and understands the need for the skills.
T20 cricket is one of the most exciting formats in the game. Viewers love to see the battle between the two teams and love to see some fours and sixes hit by the batters. They come to watch the power-hitting of the batters and high-scoring encounters with lots of boundaries and sixes.
Today, we will talk about the power-hitting ability in T20 cricket and why it is important. The Bangladesh cricket team is determined to develop big-hitting skills with an eye on ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
T20 cricket has evolved over the years and the batters approach this format which demands power-hitting ability. Although there is always room for the players who bat with the touch and timing, they score runs in that fashion as well. But when it comes to the death overs and when you want to hit sixes at will, the power-hitting ability comes into play. Most of the time it’s the power-hitting who does the job for the batters when teams are chasing with a higher required run rate (RRR).
We have seen so many power hitters like Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Kieron Pollard, MS Dhoni, David Miller, etc, and many more players over the years who have done the job for their team with their ability to hit the long ball.
All the teams have power hitters
Almost all the big teams like India, Australia, South Africa, England, etc have their own power hitters. If we talk about the Indian team, it’s Hardik Pandya who has played that role for the team. Also, Glenn Maxwell and Tim David played that role for Australia, Dasun Shanaka for Sri Lanka etc. England even changed their way of playing and start hitting the bowlers from ball one.
It is the need of the hour and the format demands that ability. If the teams have good power hitters in their team, they can finish the game well. And even get the momentum in the end in the first inning.
Bangladesh team lacked in that part
This is the skill the Bangladesh cricket team are lacking over the years. They didn’t have any big power hitters like the other teams who can do the job for them. That is why, they are not growing in the shortest format of the game.
There have been players like Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rehman. and a few more players who have played in the middle or lower middle order. But they haven’t done well as per the team’s expectations.
They have tried Afif in that role but he also had a lean patch recently. Bangladesh cricket needs to understand this point and have to look into this matter as soon as possible. They already had a very poor two ICC T20 World Cups (in 2021 and 2022).
Bangladesh cricket played on slow wickets at their home
One of the major reasons the Bangladesh cricket team to not have proper power hitters in the team is that they played on a slow and sluggish wicket in their home. Those wickets are very slow and gave assistance to the spinners.
It’s very hard for the batters to hit fours and sixes on those wickets. There are not been so many high scoring T20 games in Bangladesh over the years because of those pitches.
Bangladesh cricket team has won the series against some big teams like Australia and New Zealand in the last year or so by preparing that kind of pitch. They are used to playing on those wickets and they have quality spinners to restrict the opposition to small totals. Recently, they beat the World Champions England as well, which shows their strength.
But they need to balance out and start preparing some good cricketing wickets with are good for the batters. Because they will not get those sluggish pitches outside their home.
Good batting wickets will give the Bangladesh batters some confidence
Also, Bangladesh cricket needs to bring in some young talent from domestic and their league (BPL) to see if someone can play the role of a power hitter.
Bangladesh cricket team’s coach, Chandika Hathurusingha also pointed out this concern.
“I am very open to seeing what we can do,” Hathurusingha said. “So go and show at the international level against the world champions, for them to understand where they are at. And for us to understand whether we are better than them in our conditions or they are better than us. Good opportunity for us to see our skillset in T20s.”
Hathurusingha also said about the power-hitting ability. “Power is a big factor,” Hathurusingha said. “But you need to have a good mechanism like good swing, good base. You can get a little better but if you have power, it gives you a head start more than others.”
Bangladesh cricket is far away from this approach. But they are determined to develop that skill set. The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is still more than one and a half years away, so they have time to figure things out. It is very important if they wanted to go big in the T20 format. And to compete with the other big teams. Let’s see how they do.
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