Controversy hits Bangladesh cricket as Taskin Ahmed blames batsmen for team's disappointing T20 World Cup 2024 campaign

Bangladesh fast-bowler Taskin Ahmed has pinned the blame on the batsmen for the team's disappointing campaign in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

While Bangladesh managed to qualify for the Super 8s, their batters especially the top-order batters indeed struggled throughout the competition. Most of the teams struggled in the tough batting conditions but Bangladesh's performance with the bat raised a number of eyebrows.

Among the eight teams that advanced ahead of the group stage, their batting unit had the lowest collective average. Not a single Bangladesh batsman could touch the 200-run mark in the tournament while only one of them - Towhid Hridoy (153) - crossed the 150-run mark. Even veteran players such as Shakib Al Hasan (111 runs at 106.73 SR) and Mahmudullah (95 runs at 94.05 SR) struggled to live up to the expectations.

Taskin Ahmed admitted that the senior batsmen's struggle did have an impact on the team's performance. At the same time, he also clarified that their struggle did not affect the team off the field and stated that he is hopeful of a recovery soon.

"The seniors' off-form had an effect on the team but not off the field," Taskin Ahmed was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"They are great team men. We stayed as a team for 47 days. Everything was fine off the field. It is quite normal that a team will have problems when important players are not in form. I am hopeful that we can recover from this, and play better soon," he added.

I haven't seen such a long bad patch: Taskin Ahmed

Speaking further, Taskin Ahmed expressed his surprise over the batters' prolonged struggle. He admitted that the batting conditions in the USA were not tough but the batsmen's failure to do well in the West Indies as well left him surprised. He also admitted that Bangladesh have failed to live up to the expectations in T20Is but urged the fans to keep faith in the team.

"When you talk about the batting, if you look at the statistics, I think every [teams'] batting department suffered in the USA this time. Bowlers got a lot of help. We got better [batting] wickets in the West Indies.

"I haven't seen such a long bad patch for the batters in my ten years playing for Bangladesh. I hope it goes away quickly," said Taskin Ahmed.

"We never had great numbers in T20s. We are improving slowly. We cannot just look at minus points; we are in the negative already. We are trying to get a 'plus'. Your frustration is expected. We will give you a good win. You have to keep faith in us. We will give it our best," he added.

Bangladesh bowed out of the tournament at the Super 8 stage. They ended up losing all of their Super 8 games including the last one against Afghanistan where they could not chase down 114 runs. Bangladesh had the opportunity to qualify for the semifinal by chasing down the total against Afghanistan within 12.1 overs but they were bowled out for 105.

Meanwhile, India and South Africa will be taking on each other in the final of the T20 World Cup. The game is scheduled to be played on Saturday (June 29) in Barbados. South Africa defeated Afghanistan in the semifinal while India beat defending champions England for a place in the final.