5 reasons why Bangladesh will be the team to beat in the next World Cup

#3 The squad core at the peak of the powers

The pillars

The five pillars of the current Bangladesh ODI cricket team are Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mashrafe Mortaza. In cricket, players – especially batsmen – generally hits his peak from 30 to 33. In the 2019 World Cup, every player will, except Mashrafe, be between 30 and 33

This means that Shakib, Tamim, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur will be at the peak of their powers in the next World Cup if the patterns in the cricket world are taken into consideration. Also, over the last few years – since the Asia Cup run in 2012, to be exact – these players have improved a lot and the stats prove just that.

Tamim Iqbal’s average before the Asia Cup was 28.84 in ODIs. Since that tournament, however, he has been batting at an average of 44.54 in ODIs. Meanwhile, prior to the same tournament, Rahim had an average of 25.47 in ODIs. Since the tournament, his average has been 40.86.

Similarly, Mahmudullah had an average of 30.53 in ODIs before the Asia Cup in 2012, since then he has been batting at an average of 38.71. And I don’t think Shakib needs stats to back his claim since he has been ever so consistent in the international arena, so much that he is now the number one all-rounder in all three formats of the game.

So it is natural to expect that these players will keep improving and hit their peak in the next World Cup.