Bangladesh skipper Najmul calls for better pitches at home

Najmul Hossain Shanto

Bangladesh can only hope to improve their lacklustre T20 World Cup record once they get better pitches at home, new captain Najmul Hossain Shanto told AFP ahead of the showpiece tournament.

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. Najmul, appointed all-format captain in February aged just 25 to replace newly minted politician Shakib Al Hasan, blamed their failures on home pitches ill-suited to the typical run feasts seen elsewhere in the 20-over format.

"First of all, we have to play on good wickets," he told AFP. "Some people can take it as an excuse, but it is really a fact that we play very few matches on a good wicket."

Bangladeshi pitches are known for low-scoring matches and only one player in their World Cup squad, top-order batsman Towhid Hridoy, has a T20 international strike-rate above 130.

"It is difficult to change things in six months. If we continue on a good wicket for one or two years, then these strike-rates will improve," said Najmul.

Ninth-ranked Bangladesh have nonetheless started seeing some improvement in the short game with series wins at home against Australia, England and New Zealand this decade. But there have been hiccups along the way such as the 2-1 defeat by the USA in a three-match warm-up series in Houston this week.

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