ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Three Players to Watch out for Bangladesh
Since making their debut in 1999 in England, Bangladesh have certainly made progress in white-ball cricket. They certainly played exceedingly well to qualify for the semifinals of 2017 ICC Champions Trophy played in England. Their best result came in the previous edition as they were beat by India in the quarterfinals.
The Bengali Tigers will be looking to go the distance in this year’s World Cup. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced a well-balanced squad for the showpiece event.
Let’s take at the look at the three key players to watch out for in this World Cup
Tamim Iqbal
Tamim Iqbal is Bangladesh’s best batsman by some distance. The left-hander is the country’s leading run-scorer in the 50-over format with 6,636 runs in 191 innings at an average of 36.26 and with a strike-rate of 78.11, which included 11 centuries and 46 fifties. Those numbers make it evident why Tamim is being so highly-rate by the team management, who will be hoping for another stellar of a tournament from their veteran opener.
Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan is Bangladesh’s premier all-rounder in all formats for more than a decade now.. The left-hander has scored 5,717 runs in 186 innings in the 50-over format for the team with an impressive average of 35.73, which included seven centuries and 42 fifties. With the ball in hand, Shakib has 249 wickets to his name in 195 innings with a strike-rate of 40.4 and with an impressive economy-rate of just 4.44. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder is being struggling with fitness issues of late and it will be interesting to see if he has what it takes to survive a long tournament and keep producing match-winning performances.
Mehidy Hasan
Mehidy Hasan is Bangladesh’s premier spinner alongside Shakib Al Hasan. The right-arm off-spinner does not possess a great number of variety but is a very clever operator as he has the command and control over the pace variation. The 21-year-old has represented his national team in 28 ODIs, where he has 29 wickets to his name at a strike-rate of 47, which does not make a pretty reading. However, if those numbers are combined with an economy-rate of 4.38, then Mehidy becomes a more than useful operator.
