Asia Cup 2022 – Bangladesh news
Rather than winning the Asia Cup, it will be a big achievement if you can play as the favorite team every time in the T20 World Cup and maintain the trend of improvement. This was said by captain Shakib Al Hasan. He expects the highest performance from those on the team. Shakib also said that Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur are well in the T20 World Cup plan.
Julian Wood is leading the race for the Bangladesh T20 team's power hitting coach. This English coach has been offered by BCB. Nothing has been finalized yet, the decision will be known after the Asia Cup. This English coach told Time news. BCB wants him mainly for T20 World Cup. Wood worked as the batting coach of Sylhet Sunrisers in the last BPL.
Shakib Al Hasan has asked the Bangladesh cricket community not to expect big things at the Asia Cup, starting later this month, saying that the team was looking for consistency in the T20 format over the long-term.
“It is difficult for us [to think about making the Asia Cup final]. If we can show a bit of improvement from what we have done in the last year-and-a-half, it would be an achievement,” Shakib said in his first press interaction since becoming T20I captain. “We should make it to the Super 4s [they are grouped with Afghanistan and Sri Lanka], but I feel that if we can’t achieve targets that we set before a tournament, you will tell us that we talk big but can’t achieve targets. Let us keep our targets in the dressing room. I don’t want to discuss it here.”
The last – and only – time the Asia Cup was played as a T20 event, Bangladesh finished runners-up to India, but their recent form has been quite ordinary: they have won two out of their ten matches since the T20 World Cup last year.
“We don’t have to change the way we play cricket but it is important that we use our resources properly,” Shakib, who was appointed captain earlier this month, not long after becoming embroiled in a controversy over his endorsement of a betting company. “I believe that we are a good team and we have done it before. We have to play well consistently. We have to start winning, and if we don’t, we have to push it to the last couple of balls.
“People should understand that we will improve by being competitive. It can’t be like now when we are losing in the first innings or within ten overs of the second innings.”
Shakib said that rather than hoping to win the Asia Cup, the expectations should be about improving the format in the next four years.