5 ways how Bangladesh cricket can go to the next level

#2 Wickets in Powerplay 1 and 2

Mustafizur is a one-in-a-generation find, but his performance on flat tracks has disappointed

While the Fizz shows his effectiveness on slowish pitches, Bangladesh have struggled to put teams under pressure with the ball. Mustafizur is not an ideal new ball bowler, and can specialise in the middle overs, trying to eke out wickets with his fast off-breaks. Rubel Hossain and Taskin are effective with the new ball, but they need to supplement their pace with swing, to get wickets.

Bangladesh were unable to get more than a single early wicket in any of their games, leading to slow start against Australia and a hammering versus England. Their middle order bowling was found lacking, and Mustafizur needs to up his game, as his wicket-taking ability seems to have dipped in recent games.

The pace bowlers could adopt cross-seam deliveries and reverse swing to gain that competitive edge. Mashrafe Mortaza, while a useful lower-order batsman and a good captain, is not the player of the early 2000s and is not an international-quality bowler anymore.

Their spin bowling is not potent enough. Mossadek, Mahmudullah and Shakib do not spin the ball nearly enough to either contain or take regular wickets. They need to introduce Mehedi Hasan more, as his ability to give the ball a rip will get them wickets in the middle order. His batting is helpful as well.

Perhaps introducing a leg-spinner would allow them to take wickets in the middle overs. Bangladeshi bowlers failed to impress and gave lots of runs in the process, and it’s one department that needs to be reassessed immediately, especially while playing away from home.