Impactful Sakib must continue

It was an easy assumption to make Bangladesh’s bowling as their main weapon ahead of the T20 World Cup, especially as the batsmen have produced little to be excited about in recent times.

But very few could have predicted that Tanzim Hasan Sakib would be the Tigers’ leading pacer in this tournament – he currently occupies joint second spot in the list of top wicket-takers alongside New Zealand’s Trent Boult, Windies’ Akeal Hosein, and the South -African Anrich Nortje with nine wickets in four matches.

However, what sets Sakib apart from the rest is the impact he has had with the new ball: the 21-year-old has been the most impactful bowler in the tournament so far, with a bowling impact of 251.54 according to ESPNcricinfo.
Whether through words or actions, Sakib has made no secret of how he plans to operate in this tournament.

“I just want to be aggressive and execute my plans,” Sakib had said after the win in Nepal – a game in which the speedy right-armer was rewarded with the player of the match award for his career-best figures of four for seven and getting also a 15 percent fine for breach of code of conduct, related to the confrontation he had with Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel during a fiery opening period.

Interestingly, the inclusion of Sakib, who has now become one of the key heroes behind the Tigers’ progression to Super Eight, was the main talking point after the T20 World Cup squad announcement. He was left out of the top fifteen in the first selection submitted to the ICC, but a bold call from the Gazi Ashraf Hossain-led selection panel saw him get the edge over Mohammad Saifuddin.

And while he has not been used extensively in the death overs – a phase where the selectors had predicted Sakib would be much more effective than Saifuddin – the youngster took it upon himself to take on the challenge of playing with the new ball bowling, something he has not played much white-ball cricket.

Overall, Sakib is a skiddy customer due to his somewhat swinging action. During this World Cup he has taken advantage of the slow and rotating surfaces in the Caribbean and the US. The way he had two of the Nepali batters caught at point and cast Quinton de Kock after catching South African opener Reeza Hendricks in front of his stumps showed how his skiddy deliveries, which bounce off the surface slightly lower than normal , can be affected. a deadly weapon for the Tigers throughout the tournament.

Sakib had to bowl four overs in a row against Nepal, and in the end he bowled 21 dots – the highest number of dots in a T20 World Cup match up to that point – while giving away just one extra to give Bangladesh exactly the type of start they had desperately needed them in a match in which they had to defend a measly total of 106 points.

What bodes well for Bangladesh is that Sakib won’t have to do it all alone – with Mustafizur Rahman doing his job by bowling stingily at the death while also picking up crucial wickets, Taskin Ahmed living up to his reputation, and the young leggy Rishad Hossain set the stage on fire with his spin and control. And Bangladesh will hope that will be the case for the rest of the tournament, starting with the encounter against title contenders Australia in Antigua tomorrow.