George Costanza was a famously incompetent character from the 1990s TV sitcom Seinfeld. After several misadventures, including in his role as the assistant to the traveling secretary with the New York Yankees, Costanza gets a job in Kruger Industrial Smoothing. There, he meets the company president Mr Kruger, who matches Costanza in incompetence. After skipping office two days in a row, Costanza one day reveals the company’s motto to Jerry Seinfeld: “We don’t care and it shows”.
It might sound harsh, but Bangladesh’s T20 cricket over the last several years, including in the first T20I against India in Gwalior on Sunday, is along the lines of “We don’t care and it shows” too.
They looked out of depth against a relatively (internationally) inexperienced India side. The three changes to the playing XI since the T20 World Cup didn’t really make much of a difference as the majority of those who remained felt like liabilities. Worse, the team management also seems to be out of ideas.
India mopped up the chase in 11.5 overs after bowling out Bangladesh for 127. India played like the world champions they are. They also played like owners of one of the best attitudes a T20 side can have. If there’s a higher gear available, they invariably opt for it.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are more or less the same unit that played at the T20 World Cup four months ago, where they only made a statistical improvement on the previous seven campaigns. They don’t appear to have planned something new or different for the format. They batted against India with the blueprint they employed at the T20 World Cup. After trying (and failing) to hit a few big ones in the powerplay, they struggled against the spinners before meandering to a low total.
Parvez’s struggle was expected given his lack of international experience, and having played just four BPL matches this year. Mehidy top-scored with 35* but he batted at No. 7 – chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain had specified that he had been picked primarily as a batter. Jaker might be destined to remain a one-hit wonder.
What about the regulars then? Litton Das timed a beautiful boundary before slashing across an Arshdeep Singh length ball. His shift in outlook in Test batting from Pakistan to India was a concern, and this needless – and careless – shot underlined the need for the team management to treat him differently when it comes to the different formats.
Mahmudullah’s second-ball dismissal in this game – at No. 5, where he hasn’t often batted – will raise questions about his place in the team, but the 139-game veteran showed the right attitude in trying to take on India’s fastest bowler, Mayank Yadav. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who backed Mahmudullah vehemently in a recent press conference, is himself struggling to shift between formats. He scored 27 off 25 balls but the innings lacked punch and panache.
Perhaps four wickets falling while he was at the crease forced Shanto to play a sedate game. Or, perhaps, the T20I captaincy is weighing heavier on him than in Tests and ODIs.
Which brings us to the team management. Bangladesh continue to play a dull form of T20 cricket. It is stuck in the mid-2010s when batting sides had anchors, and a middle-order batter with a strike rate of 120 or thereabouts mattered.
Times have changed. The BPL isn’t providing the players with meaningful play time either, or the team management doesn’t really rate the BPL highly enough. The tournament’s top-scorer from the latest edition – Tamim Iqbal – was in the commentary box in Gwalior. Should someone not try to bring him back into the fold? Then there is the other experienced batter Mushfiqur Rahim. He was one of the top-five scorers in the BPL. Can’t he be brought out of T20I retirement?
Bangladesh have shown in the last 12 months that they want to stick to a young-looking side even if results don’t come. It might be fair for the long term, but the long term that they talked about in September 2023 has moved to October 2024.
Kruger had fired everyone in the company and given Costanza all the key files. What of the Bangladesh T20I team?
