Picture Credit: Twitter/@T20WorldCup
In a big setback to Bangladesh's T20 World Cup campaign, their preferred medium-pace bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a back injury. Veteran quick bowler Robel Hussain has been roped in the squad as his replacement.
"The Event Technical Committee - made up of Chris Tetley (Head of Events, Chair), Clive Hitchcock (ICC Senior Cricket Operations Manager), Rahul Dravid and Dhiraj Malhotra (BCCI Representatives), Simon Doull and Ian Bishop (Independent Members)-- approved the (replacement) request on Tuesday," read an official statement.
Saifuddin picked up at least a wicket in each match
What is likely to hurt the Bengal Tigers more is the fact that Saifuddin had been in good form. The 24-year-old was even part of all the Bangladesh matches so far and picked up at least a wicket in each one of them. He even contributed with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 19 in six balls in the Round 1 match against Papua New Guinea.
However, Rubel, who has replaced Saifuddin in the main squad is a vastly experienced campaigner himself and has featured in 159 international matches for the Bangladesh side. In the shortest format, he has donned the Bangladesh colours on 28 occasions, picking up as many wickets at an economy rate of 9.45.
Bangladesh inconsistent in T20 World Cup so far
As far as the team is concerned, they just have not been as consistent as they would have liked and have won two and lost two of their four matches so far. While they suffered a shocking defeat against Scotland in their first Round 1 match, they registered wins in their next two matches to secure a place in the Super 12s. However, against Sri Lanka they lost another match where they could have won.
They were dominant for a large part of the match but just could not close the match down. In a group that has the likes of South Africa, Australia, England and West Indies other than Sri Lanka, the Mahmudullah-led side would want to hit top form as soon as possible if they want to keep alive their dream of progressing further in the tournament.
While the world number eight side have registered wins over Australia and New Zealand in the bilateral series, they have underperformed in the World Cups and would want to change that record moving forward.