Despite winning the T20I series over UAE, not many positives for lacklustre Tigers

Bangladesh may have won the two-match T20I series against the hosts UAE 2-0, but the team still looks miles off of the top T20I teams in world cricket.

With less than a month to go till the T20 World Cup, and only a tri-nation series against New Zealand and Pakistan in New Zealand as the last bit of preparation ahead, the Tigers will need to sort out many key areas in their team.

Here, we take a look at the positives and the areas of concern for Bangladesh from the recently-concluded T20I series.

The only positive

Afif and Mosaddek continue to impress: Among the very few positives for the Tigers were the batting performance of Afif Hossain and the career resurgence of Mosaddek Hossain.

Afif, in the first match, showed his array of shots and oozed with class as he top-scored with 77* and helped Bangladesh post a decent total. 

Mosaddek too has been showing good signs with the bat and has been key in upping the tempo in the middle and late overs.

His batting against pace, which has been a weakness of his, has improved and he had added more shots to his game. 

The bowling has also come good, especially in the second match, where he took two wickets for just eight runs. 

The areas of concern

The opening remains an issue: While Mehidy Hasan Miraz has been good with the bat in the opening slot, question marks remain over how sustainable this can be in the long run against world-class pace attacks, especially in more pacer-friendly conditions down under.

Sabbir Rahman has also flopped in the opportunities he has gotten so far since making his international return in the Asia Cup, although his ball-striking ability remains. 

Litton Das as a result has been dropped to number three and hasn't fared any better there.

As a result, the batting order remains an unstable one and one where the opening partnership has not flourished.

Perhaps moving Litton up the order back in the opening slot and moving Sabbir down to three can be a better option.

Soumya and Mahmud could have been given a chance: Speaking of openers, Soumya Sarkar could have been given an opportunity in place of Sabbir Raham in the opening slot.

The left-hander was picked in the squad and not given an opportunity to prove himself, even though he has been in poor touch with the bat in the domestic circuit. 

Hasan Mahmud missed the Asia Cup due to injury but was in excellent form with the ball before that. 

He too could have been given an opportunity and get back to match fitness.

In fact, in a pace unit that has not been doing well recently, Mahmud looked the best of the lot with his pace and pinpoint yorkers.

One feels he will get his chance in the next series and be an important part of the team moving forward.

Saifuddin and Mustafiz remain a big worry with the ball: Mohammad Saifuddin, who returned from another long injury layoff and has been the go-to death-overs bowler, has been expensive with the ball. 

He conceded 40 runs without a wicket at 10 runs per over in the first match and conceded 26 from three overs with one wicket in the second.

Mustafizur Rahman has also looked like a shell of his former self away from home in conditions that are not conducive to his cutters.

He has been resorting to bowling more regulation pace bowling on such occasions and needless to say, the effectiveness of his bowling without his cutters has lacked - pun intended - fizz. 

He may not be a shoo-in for the starting XI at the World Cup with Ebadot Hossain and Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam all performing better than him