da blaze casino： The Bangladesh captain isn’t keen on making personnel changes though. He just wants mindset changes
da realbet： Mohammad Isam25-Feb-2025Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has said that the same group of players should be given more opportunities to be “responsible for the team’s performance” in future ICC tournaments. The comment comes after Bangladesh’s early exit from the Champions Trophy following which their senior players have come under fire.Shanto started the post-match press conference on Monday by saying that they need to make “changes”. “I have said it a lot of times in the past, but we [have] made the same mistakes over and over again,” he said. “We have to focus on how we want to improve our batting. I hope after this tournament, we will make some changes as a batting unit, which will bring improvement in our batting.”That had everyone on alert. Bangladesh have been crying out for a fresh approach in ODIs so there was some hope that the captain himself was about to address the issue. However, Shanto later clarified that he meant the changes should be within the mindset of the existing batting group, and not changes in personnel.”We have to be more responsible for the team when we go out to bat. We cannot keep chopping and changing [personnel]. We have to keep giving our existing resources more opportunities. I think we are taking it lightly. We have to be more responsible.”Related
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Shanto also threw his weight behind Mushfiqur Rahim, who has been struggling for runs. The former Bangladesh captain has managed just one fifty in ODIs since the end of the 2023 World Cup and averages a tick over 31. He was dismissed for a first-ball duck against India before falling to a rash shot against New Zealand for 2.There were thoughts that Mushfiqur could be replaced by the incoming Mahmudullah, who missed Bangladesh’s first game of the Champions Trophy due to an injury, with Jaker Ali taking the gloves. However, instead of swapping the two veterans, Bangladesh dropped Soumya Sarkar from the top of the order with Shanto going one slot up. “There’s no auto-choice in this team,” Shanto said. “Soumya bats in the top order, Riyad [Mahmudullah] bhai plays in the lower-middle order. Keeping Soumya would have forced us to make a lot of changes in the line-up. We needed Riyad bhai given how he batted in the last four or five innings.”I wasn’t worried about Mushfiq [Mushfiqur] last five innings. His wicketkeeping was very important. We have seen his contribution to the team over the years. He didn’t score runs in the last two or three matches but I am sure he can come back in the next game.”Mushfiqur Rahim has managed just one half-century in his last nine ODIs•ICC via Getty Images
Bangladesh’s biggest issue on Monday was handing four wickets to offspinner Michael Bracewell as they lost their way in the middle overs. Their approach of playing very defensively, coming under pressure and trying to hit their way out looked questionable as they accumulated about 30 overs worth of dot balls. Shanto admitted that Bangladesh, who finished on 236 for 9, were well short of a par score.”It was a good wicket, worth at least 280 to 300 runs. I think (Bracewell) bowled well but we fell to some soft dismissals,” he said. “We made the mistakes with the bat. We could have batted better against him on this wicket. There was some poor shot selection. We could have planned better, which wouldn’t have given him so many wickets. He bowled well but we made some poor executions.”We have room for improvement. We don’t score 300-plus totals regularly. The number of dot balls was mainly because we lost wickets in a cluster in the middle overs. Maybe, if we had two big partnerships, we wouldn’t have suffered so much today. We have to build the habit of scoring 300 runs regularly. For that, we need better practice wickets.”Bangladesh’s sub-par batting in both the group-stage matches against India and New Zealand again brings into question whether they are prepared for ICC tournaments. Shanto said that they have to find a way to show improvement at the highest level, rather than just waiting for a team performance, once in a while.”We only win at home. We don’t win regularly in overseas conditions. We have to find out how we can do well in ICC tournaments,” Shanto said. “We need a collective improvement. There are days when the top order is doing well, another day only the middle order is doing well. There are days when we field well. It is a haphazard situation. I think only a collective performance can help us do well against big teams in these tournaments.Shanto stood by his pre-tournament declaration that Bangladesh were targeting to win the Champions Trophy. He said that the team had the same desire but their collective efforts didn’t match the dream. “I think the whole team dreamt of winning the Champions Trophy. If we don’t dream big, how can we play?” he questioned. “We are here to win, not just to compete. We didn’t get the desired result. We can’t just be dreaming of a big result, we have to play accordingly too. Our focus is on the next match now.”
