Nazmul worried after seeing Bangladesh's batting against Zimbabwe in T20I series

Bangladesh is playing a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at home. Although the series is on the ICC's Future Tour Schedule, it is seen as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup. Najmul Hossain Shanto's team won easily in the first two matches. 

But the batting of the top-order batters has been a cause for concern. Despite winning the first match by eight wickets, Bangladesh batted till the 16th over to reach the target of 125. In the next match, the home team had to play up to 19 overs to reach the target of 139 runs. BCB President and Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hassan Papon expressed his concern after seeing such batting of Bangladesh.

Nazmul spoke to the media after handing over the title to Dhaka Premier League champions Abahani Limited at Mirpur Sher Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday. He said, "We won two matches easily against Zimbabwe. But the batting did not look good. It worried me."

However, the BCB president is satisfied with bowling though and praised Mustafizur Rahman along with Mohammad Saifuddin and Taskin Ahmed.

"I have seen two matches in the series against Zimbabwe. The way Saifuddin bowled after so long, the way Sheikh Mahedi (Hasan) bowled and Taskin was at his devastating best; Mustafiz played very well in the IPL too," he said.

Another positive for Bangladesh has been the batting of Towhid Hridoy. This right-handed batter scored runs in the first two matches, remaining unbeaten in both. Hridoy was the player of the match after playing an innings of 37 runs in the second T20. But Nazmul Hasan didn't want to say his name as he felt Hridoy's performances got negatively affected when he praised him. He said, "Hridoy. If I say his name, his performance might get worse again. It means he still has a lot to learn.

Recently, Shakib Al Hasan in an event said that playing a series against Zimbabwe is not ideal for World Cup preparation. When asked about the experienced all-rounder's comment, the BCB president said, "Shakib may have said it jokingly". The BCB president thinks that Shakib would have played the T20Is against Zimbabwe instead of playing in the 50-over DPL if his World Cup preparations were more calculated.

Nazmul Hasan said, "We are playing a series with Zimbabwe, this is also T20. Before this we have played BPL, and we have seen crowded BPL. It was a competitive game. Before that, we played a full series with Sri Lanka. Even then it takes preparation! I think that's what he said. If that was the case... he could have played T20 and ODI too. But he is playing ODI. He seems to have done mischief with you.

Before the 2022 T20 World Cup, Bangladesh played a series against Pakistan and New Zealand. They are playing a series with them in Zimbabwe and the USA before this World Cup. When asked to compare the preparation, the BCB president said that he does not see the series against Zimbabwe as preparation for the World Cup. Besides explaining the reason for playing the series in the United States, Nazmul Hasan said, "This series against Zimbabwe is not a preparation for the World Cup. This is our FTP game. Do I give them points in the FTP game? It has nothing to do with it."

"In the United States we want to play them in their conditions, and wickets; To adjust to everything. If you ask me, we should have ended it earlier. If you talk about preparation, there is no preparation two weeks before. What should have been done earlier? I think the number of series we play, the whole series with Sri Lanka, this year's BPL is crowded and well played. This is what preparation is supposed to be," he said.