Bangladesh’s loss in the T20I series to the United States of America (USA) is nothing less than a wake-up call for the team, according to all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

The Bangla Tigers had visited the United States, co-host of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, almost a month before the start of the tournament. They flew there a month before the 20-team event to play a 3-match T20I series against the United States as part of their preparation for the World Cup. This series also served as a great platform for Bangladesh to get an idea of ​​what the conditions will be like.

However, Bangladesh’s warm-up series began with a shocking 5-wicket defeat in the first T20I at the Prairie View Cricket Complex. The visitors were restricted to a first innings total of 153 after losing the toss with the United States chasing the target for 19.3 overs.

In the second T20I, instead of staging a comeback, Najmul Hossain Shanto’s team suffered a dramatic collapse while chasing a target of just 145. The Bangla Tigers went from 106/5 to 138 in 19.3 overs and the USA . won the match by 6 runs. and achieved their first victory in the series against a full member nation.

What did Shakib Al Hasan say about Bangladesh’s loss in the series?

While speaking at the post-match presentation yesterday, Shakib Al Hasan openly admitted that Bangladesh did not play well enough to win the series. He called the series loss a very disappointing result, but also made sure to appreciate Team USA for their back-to-back victories.

“It’s certainly disappointing and we didn’t expect it, but we have to give credit to the American team for the way they played. I don’t think anyone expected us to lose two games. Any game you lose as a team is disappointing and you don’t want to lose a game and obviously it’s very disappointing”. – Shakib Al Hasan told reporters.

With the series defeat now confirmed, the Asian team will play to avoid a 3-0 deficit in tomorrow’s T20I series. And the way they went down 2-0 in the series like that is a wake-up call to the team that they cannot come up with a similar game plan when the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 begins.

“But having said that, we have to play in the World Cup and this series could be a wake-up call for us as we haven’t played the way we want to.” – concluded Shakib Al Hasan.

Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2024 Schedule

Bangladesh will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign with a clash against Sri Lanka on Friday, June 7. Three days later, they will face South Africa on June 10 in New York. On June 13 and 16, Bangla Tigers will take on Netherlands and Nepal respectively. Their final two group matches will take place at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown, St Vincent.

Bangladesh squad for World T20 2024: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan , Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Travel reservations: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud