Shakib hit an undefeated 64 and was ultimately adjudged Player of the Match in Kingstown.

Bangladesh have used three different opening pairs within the last six matches, and seven pairs within a year.

South Africa virtually clinched a place in the Super Eight stage as spinner Keshav Maharaj defended 11 runs off the final over to help secure a nail-biting four-run victory over Bangladesh in a low-scoring Group D clash on Monday.

Bangladesh’s win over Sri Lanka may not have been entirely convincing but it has already put the Tigers in a favourable position in the race to Super 8s.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended with 3-22 and Taskin Ahmed (2-25) chipped in with a pair of wickets as Sri Lanka were restricted to 124-9 and then Towhid Hridoy smashed four sixes in his 40 from 20 balls as Bangladesh reached the target with an over to spare.

The Tigers eager to prove their critics wrong.

By and large, Bangladesh will not have an excuse in terms of adjustment to the conditions.

Even though the left-hander is the designated anchor in the Bangladesh top-order, his career strike rate of 109.64 is not up to par in T20Is.

Bangladesh batters lead the chart of most ducks, 44, in T20 World Cup – three ahead of Sri Lanka.   

Shakib is likely to remain relevant by the time the next T20 World Cup comes in 2026.

Bangladesh enter the T20 World Cup with a bit of uncertainty as they continue to look for their strongest XI. Experienced opener Litton Das has been out of form of late with an average of 13.16 this year in six matches. Although teammate Tawhid Hridoy is confident that Das will make a strong comeback in the tournament.

The 55-year-old coach recommends focusing on the youth to steer Bangladesh to a level of excellence.

The South Asian nation is one of nine countries to have played all T20 World Cups since the tournament began in 2007 but is alone in never having made it to the knockout stage.

We distance ourselves from the sport, stop watching the games, and wish that the news of the results doesn’t reach us. But to remain unaffected is not a choice we can make.

The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side hit new lows in T20I when they suffered a series defeat against lower-ranked USA with one match to spare, sparking huge criticism among the cricket fans back home. 

Liton may not be an automatic starter but Bangladesh’s plans could change drastically after just one game at the upcoming main event.

It is not unknown to anyone that Bangladesh are still to come to terms with the T20 format -- a rudimentary assessment of the Tigers’ T20 calibre and a glance at how the Tigers fared in the previous editions of the T20 World Cup would be enough to realise that.

Sure, Saifuddin has dished out glimpses of his talents with bat and ball in domestic competitions but can those sparks of promise in lower-quality contests be used to solidify faith in the 27-year-old heading into the T20 World Cup in June?

The scepticism and queries over the team’s preparation were not at all surprising, considering how poorly the Tigers have fared in the last two T20 World Cups -- only winning over low-ranked Netherlands and Zimbabwe in 2022 while suffering a humiliating loss to Scotland the year before in the previous edition.

Shakib is currently sitting on 47 wickets in 36 matches in T20 World Cups and is the only active cricketer among the top five wicket-taker’s list in the competition.