Bangladesh suffered a shocking T20I series loss at the hands of the USA, with veteran all-rounder Shakib al Hasan calling it the ‘wakeup call’ for the Tigers heading into the 2024 T20 World Cup. The hosts stunned Bangladesh in the second T20I on Thursday (May 23) in Houston, beating them by six runs to take the match and series home – their first over a full-member team in this format. Being embarrassed yet accepting the defeat, Shakib said they did not take the USA lightly ahead of the lead-up series for the World Cup.

Chasing 145, Bangladesh was in a comfortable position with 106 for four inside the 15th over; however, a lower-order collapse called for their misery, as they fell shy of the target by six runs. A second consecutive loss against the USA exposed their tactics and preparations for the 20-team tournament starting June 2 in the Americas.

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Addressing the media following the second game, Shakib said the team was disappointed with the result but praised the home side for being gritty and playing their best cricket to come on the top. 

Certainly it is disappointing, and we didn’t expect it, but we must give credit to the US team for the way they have played,” Shakib said. 

“I think no one expected that we would lose two games. Any match you lose as a team is disappointing, and you don’t want to lose a game, and obviously it is very disappointing. But having said that, we have to play the World Cup, and this series might be a wakeup call for us as we haven’t played the way we want to play,” Shakib said. 

Without blaming anyone for the loss, Shakib insisted on each player taking equal responsibility for the result, adding that playing well in all three departments is paramount for each player. 

“It’s a team game, and everyone has to take responsibility – you win as a team and you lose as a team. I don’t want to blame any particular person or any particular department. It’s just that T20 is such a format you have to play very good cricket in all three departments to win against any team. There are no small or big teams in T20 cricket and that’s why it is more exciting than any other format. And the proof of that is in the last two games the way USA played,” he continued. 

‘We didn’t take them lightly’

Although for a team that reached the quarters and semis of the major ICC events before, losing to an associate nation is a shocker. However, despite the result, Shakib admitted that Bangladesh didn’t take them lightly ahead of this series.

“I don’t think we took them lightly. In the first game, maybe we couldn’t do what we wanted to do, and in the second game, exactly the same thing happened – we couldn’t execute the plans that we were supposed to do on the ground.

“In T20 every team is very much equal. I have seen the game between West Indies A and Nepal, and they really played well, and you are seeing games between Ireland and Netherlands, and they are playing very close matches. Pakistan lost to Ireland, and in T20 it is anybody’s game,” he continued. 

Meanwhile, the final T20I will take place in Houston on Saturday (May 25). 

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