ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh Consultant Sridharan Sriram Disregards Opening Position Worries

It is uncertain whether Bangladesh will use Mehidy at the top to have a right-left combination or start with their two regular openers, Soumya Sarkar and Najmul, as they did in Hobart when their campaign started.

However, there is far too much talk about openers, in Sridharan Sriram’s opinion, Bangladesh’s T20I technical consultant.

The only two teams with a poor track record in opening partnerships among all the teams competing in the current T20 World Cup in Australia are Bangladesh and South Africa. The only two teams without an opening stand of fifty or more runs since the conclusion of the previous T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman are these two.

In 13 innings, South Africa has used four different opening partners, while Bangladesh has tried as many as 12 top-order combinations without much success. Among the 16 teams during that time, Bangladesh’s average opening stand of 13.68 is the lowest.

“I think we are paying too much attention to the openers”: Sridharan Sriram

During Bangladesh’s two-match series against the UAE, makeshift openers Sabbir Rahman and Mehidy Hasan were used in place of regular opener Litton Das, who was dropped down the order as other players were tested for the opening spot.

Mehidy and Sabbir, Mehidy and Najmul Hossain, Najmul and Litton, and Soumya Sarkar and Najmul were the four different opening combinations Bangladesh used in the tri-series games played in New Zealand before traveling to Australia.

“What do you mean by proper openers? Why are we so fixated with openers? I have said this before, we look at Bangladesh as a team. Why are you so caught up with openers, that’s a question I don’t (know),” said Sridharan Sriram.

“In New Zealand, every match we’ve got 40 in the first six, why do you think the opening is a concern, that is a question. That was about par, and that’s what Bangladesh achieved every time we batted” Sridharan Sriram said.

So why do we think the opening is a concern is a question? I think we are paying too much attention to the openers,” Sridharan Sriram Added.

In this World Cup, Bangladesh’s die-hard cricket supporters anticipate them to ruin the fun for the big teams and spice up the match. The West Indies, who were considered favourites to win the tournament, were defeated by the Bangla tigers in 2007, the first year of the World Cup.

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