EKUSH TAPADER from Dubai

During the innings break of the Bangladesh-Pakistan Super Four match in Dubai on Thursday, Pakistan legend Wasim Akram looked tense.

When asked about the match situation, Akram, who is working as a commentator at the Asia Cup, said, “The wicket is a bit tricky, but if Bangladesh plays basic cricket, they’ll easily make it to the final.”

Thankfully for Pakistan, Bangladesh did not play that “basic cricket”, suffered a 11-run defeat, and squandered a golden opportunity to play the final.

After the match, Akram spoke to the Bangladeshi media and pointed out that the Tigers’ batting struggles reflected the weakness of their first-class structure, “Look, batters with good technique for any format will come from red-ball first-class cricket. That’s the area Bangladesh needs to improve.”

The term “batting technique” echoed throughout the media box of the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday night. Journalists and former players turned commentators sat close by, exchanging thoughts in between sips of coffee. The common subject was the technique of Bangladesh’s batters -- conversations that were not flattering for the Tigers.

The lack of technical skill among Bangladeshi batters is nothing new. But against Pakistan, the shortcomings in the team management’s plans were also glaring.

The management reduced the number of top-order batters and went in with a cluster of lower-order players. After the side lost early wickets, those batters looked embarrassingly out of place.

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar told a journalist from his country, “If they had just played with a straight bat, these runs would have come anyway. Who knows what was going through their heads!”

The way nervousness and panic took over Bangladesh’s innings while chasing a mere 136, it seemed as if they had no belief that playing with calm heads could get them those runs.

Bangladesh’s goal this Asia Cup was to become champions. But apart from one or two flashes, the team never really looked like they could go all the way. In fact, just reaching the Super Four after various calculations felt like an achievement.

The way the team played in losing causes against India and Pakistan, rekindled old doubts about their T20 abilities. Before the Asia Cup, it looked like Litton Das and Co had finally grown into a proper team in the shortest format. On the bigger stage, however, their frailties were exposed once again.

The batting, in particular, looked like a leaky roof -- plugging one hole for only another to spring up. In trying to increase their six-hitting ability, the batters seemed to have forgotten the skill of rotating the strike. Then in the slog overs, when sixes are a must, the lower-order batters failed completely.

In fact, only opener Saif Hassan, who hit 12 sixes in four innings, consistently cleared the ropes for Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. After him, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Tawhid Hridoy are jointly second with three maximums each.

Jaker Ali, who led in the last two matches in Litton’s absence, faced 66 balls in the tournament without hitting a single six.

Head coach Phil Simmons, however, considered Saif’s emergence as the silver lining amidst the disappointment. This follows the set pattern of the management clinging onto one or two individual performances after a lacklustre tournament to try and stay afloat. But that hardly masks the reality that the team is drowning under its recurring troubles.