Bangladesh vs. England is expected to be a dead rubber as the ICC fails to achieve their goal
Before their final match in the inaugural—and only—edition of the ICC’s ODI Super League, England arrived in Chattogram on Saturday.
They hope to win the series three-nil on Monday in order to become the first team since Sri Lanka in 2014 to sweep an away ODI series in Bangladesh.
According to the ICC at the time, the high, noble goal of the Super League, which serves as the qualification procedure for the 2023 World Cup in India, was to “increase the stakes of bilateral 50-over games.” The Super League was introduced in 2020.
The concept was not too complicated. The opaque ranking system has typically been used to determine World Cup qualifying.
Commercially motivated scheduling committees had no motivation to match ODI series equally, therefore top teams arranged lengthy, mainly meaningless series against one another, rarely having to face rising nations.
Each side was only slated to face eight opponents out of a possible twelve, yet the fixture list nevertheless produced a series that may not have occurred otherwise. In a single summer, the Netherlands hosted the West Indies, England, Pakistan, and New Zealand.
The West Indies were defeated by Ireland in the Caribbean. For the first time in 18 years, Zimbabwe played Australia in a bilateral ODI series, and won the third match.
The last few months of the Super League represent a crucial opportunity for Ireland, South Africa, and Sri Lanka, who, along with West Indies, are fighting for the final automatic World Cup spot and trying to escape June’s qualification event in Zimbabwe.
But they don’t matter for the rest. As the qualification cycle comes to a finish, it is evident that market pressures have overcome the ICC’s goals: the Super League has been completely neglected, and several series have already been canceled due to franchise cricket’s impact on the international schedule.
“Since each point matters, there will be no dead rubbers and teams will always have to be at their very best,” the ICC stated in 2020. The match on Monday in Chattogram is a clear denial of such assertion.
Litton Das is a well-known opening partner for Tamim Iqbal in ODIs and was the leading run-scorer for the BPL champion Comilla Victorians.
He struggled in this series, however, scoring only 7 points out of a possible 15 in the first game before cutting his first ball to the point in the second. He needs a score in Chattogram because he has gone five ODI innings in a succession without reaching 50.
When, if not now? Adil Rashid’s long-term replacement in England is the 18-year-old legspinner allrounder Rehan Ahmed, who may receive his first white-ball cap on Monday.
The deadest of rubbers presents the ideal low-risk opportunity for him to make his debut, and given his skill with the bat, he might even join Rashid if the circumstances call for it.
In Mirpur, Mustafizur Rahman bowled 18 wicketless overs at a cost of 5.83 an over, making him the most expensive bowler on either side. He was out of sorts and lacking in confidence.
He might be replaced if Bangladesh decides to make a change by Ebadot Hossain or Hasan Mahmud. The team’s backup hitter is Towhid Hridoy, who has no caps.
Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Ebadot Hossain/Hasan Mahmud.
England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 James Vince, 5 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid/Saqib Mahmood, 11 Reece Topley.