Five reasons why Bangladesh failed to make the semis

Bangladesh ended their 2019 World Cup campaign on a sour note, with a 95-run loss against Pakistan and finished with just seven points out of nine games.

With a great deal of expectation and pressure to perform from the fans and those around the Bangladesh cricketing fraternity, there were a few areas where the team made some glaring errors and underperformed as a result. 

The opening pair failed: The opening combination of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar had done very well in the tri-nation series against West Indies and hosts Ireland, leading up to the World Cup.

But when it mattered most, the partnership struggled, with their best being in the tournament opener, a 60-run partnership against South Africa. 

Tamim struggled with form and failed to convert his steady starts, scoring just one fifty in eight innings.

Soumya flattered to deceive as he got decent starts in all the games, playing some lovely shots, but couldn’t convert a single innings to a big score.

The opening pair in the World Cup has been vital for the teams that have done well, and the biggest example can be Australia, as both their openers - Aaron Finch and David Warner - have scored over 500 runs so far. 

The drop catches hurt: There were a lot of dropped catches from the Bangladeshi’s and captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza also admitted after the defeat in the last game against Pakistan that is was an area of big concern.

The dropped catches by Tamim of Rohit Sharma, and Sabbir Rahman of David Warner hurt the Tigers badly as both batsmen went on to score centuries and post totals for their respective teams - India and Australia - which Bangladesh could not later chase.

Aside from that, the ground fielding was also something that lacked energy, especially when the opposition batsmen formed big partnerships and that didn’t do any favors for the team. 

The captain took one wicket: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is without a doubt the greatest captain Bangladesh cricket has ever had.

But leading into the tournament, the medium-fast bowler picked up a suspected grade 2 hamstring injury, which he chose not to scan to ensure he played the World Cup.

That, however, affected his bowling and the 35-year-old had to bowl with a shortened run-up.

He struggled to bowl in long spells and on many occasions did not finish his quota of ten overs.

The inspirational captain managed to take just one wicket in eight innings and that hurt Bangladesh as opposition teams often got off to good starts against them and took the momentum away from them.

The rain didn’t help: The rain played spoilsport for Bangladesh as they had their match against Sri Lanka washed out. 

After winning the first game against South Africa, Bangladesh gave New Zealand a big fight but lost. 

In their third game against England, they were beaten comprehensively by the hosts. 

With top-four hopes hanging in the balance, this was a must-win match for Bangladesh, against a Sri Lankan side which hadn’t played impressive cricket till then, and had barely defeated Afghanistan.

The match was washed out, with both teams sharing the points and that took away any momentum Bangladesh could have built later on in the tournament.

Lack of a bowling plan: There were plenty of occasions where it seemed like Mashrafe didn’t know which bowlers to open with and bowl in long spells.

With Mashrafe struggling with form, he had to bring in other bowlers into the attack.

Mustafizur Rahman proved ineffective in the early part of the innings while Saifuddin, with his lack of pace, was also attacked in the early part of the innings. 

In conditions, that favored the out-and-out fast bowlers, the spinners - Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat - tried their best to keep the run rate in check, but lacked wicket-taking penetration.

So Mashrafe had to constantly rely on chopping and changing his bowlers on conditions that didn’t necessarily suit them.

There were calls for fast-bowler, Rubel Hossain, to be played more because of his extra pace, but he too proved expensive as well and left the captain out of options and ideas.