The presence of Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan in the 2021 Indian Premier League bodes well for the future of Bangladesh cricket and their hopes of winning the T20 World Cup in India later this year.
Rahman and Al Hasan are playing for the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, in the IPL. This is Shakib’s second stint with the Knight Riders.
They are both big contenders to be named in Bangladesh’s squad for the 2021 World Cup. Recent experience at many of the venues that will host the tournament can only benefit Bangladesh’s chances of winning the event. Many bookies on the Bangladeshi betting site list for the T20 World Cup have attractive odds for them. For instance, bet365 have them priced at 50.0.
Shakib’s decision to prioritise playing in the IPL over a Test series against Sri Lanka is especially telling of his ambition to win a major International Cricket Council tournament with his country.
“The World Cup T20 is in India later this year. It is a very important tournament where we have much to achieve. There isn’t much to achieve in these two Tests. I think it is a better option that I prepare myself for something bigger,” he was quoted as saying by Cricfrenzy.
“People are continuously talking about skipping the Test series against Sri Lanka. I want to play in the IPL to prepare myself properly for World Cup. The grounds where I will play IPL now will be the ground where I will play the World Cup match after four months. The players with whom I will play the IPL will be the players against whom I will play in the World Cup.”
“For this reason, I will get more advantages than anyone else from Bangladesh, and it will also help me to share my experiences with the team that I will gain by playing in the IPL.”
Al Hasan, indeed, will be able to gather intelligence about many KKR teammates he’ll probably face in the T20 World Cup. Kolkata have West Indies duo Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, New Zealand pair Tim Seifert and Lockie Ferguson, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins and England batsman Eoin Morgan.
Their squad also includes plenty of local talent, including Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Varun Chakravarthy. These four are all in the running for a berth with India, who are among the favourites to win the T20 World Cup.
Rahman, meanwhile, is part of a Rajasthan squad that – at one time or another included a string of England stars. These are Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone. The experience gained playing alongside Buttler and others will stand Rahman – and by extension Bangladesh – in good stead come to the T20 World Cup.
The Royals also have South Africans David Miller, Chris Morris and Rassie van der Dussen. The Proteas trio could also be part of the tournament formerly known as the World T20.
Bangladesh have participated in all six T20 World Cups so far. Their best performance yet was in 2007, when they reached the Super 8s stage of the tournament. In total, they have won just five of their 25 tournament fixtures.
They are renowned for stepping up in significant tournaments, though. This has been witnessed in the Asia Cup, for instance. They have never won the Asia Cup but were runners-up in 2012, 2016 and 2018. That’s an impressive enough record in a competition that frequently features the more fancied Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. Time will soon tell whether they can take this Asia Cup form into the T20 World Cup again.
