5 ways how Bangladesh cricket can go to the next level

#3 Lower order batting

Mosaddek has not made is mark in international cricket

The lower order can be useful in two ways: One, saving them in a collapse and two, accelerating after a solid platform. The Bangladeshi batting line up, with Mahmudullah, Mossadek, Mashrafe, Taskin, Mustafizur and Rubel Hossain forming the bottom six, is one of two halves.

Mahmudullah and Mossadek are proper batsmen, who play in the top five for their first class teams. Mashrafe is a hitter, whose batting isn’t reliable enough to play that role. Taskin, Mustafizur and Rubel are genuine tail-enders. This lineup suggests that Bangladesh missed a trick when selecting their team. If they collapse, their lower order can bail them out till number 7. Beyond that, nobody can realistically accompany a proper batsman to put up a decent score.

Consequently, we saw the results against India and Australia, where a middle order hiccup caused lower than par scores. Mitchell Starc blew away Bangladesh’s tail like it was the first of the little piggy’s houses, something that will concern them going forward.

Other teams, like Australia or India, have batsmen with test or first class centuries down to number nine, which is great for both cases; to score quick runs at the back end or to knock it around when the top and middle order have succumbed. Bringing in Mehedi Hasan, and training their tail to bat better is a key step in their development.