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Bangladesh recently hosted England for a white-ball home series after the two boards agreed to postpone the 2021 tour. The two sides played three ODIs and three T20Is, in what turned out to be a very memorable set of affairs.
The Jos Buttler-led side managed to emerge as winners in the 50-over series by a 2-1 margin, but Bangladesh had the momentum heading into the T20I rubber after winning the last ODI to avoid a whitewash.
Prior to the T20I series, England faced Bangladesh only once in the shortest format. The clash came during the T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
England comfortably won the fixture by eight wickets, but a similar fate did not await them when they faced the Tigers in their own den.
The reigning T20 champions were handed a humbling 3-0 whitewash which cemented Bangladesh's legacy on home soil. Buttler and Co. were inferior to the hosts across all departments, which justifies the result and gives them a major wake-up call.
On that note, let us take a look as to why Bangladesh were so easily able to topple England with a historic whitewash in the T20I series.
#1 England failing to adapt to conditions in Bangladesh
The white-ball champions have not had much to cherish in subcontinent conditions over the years. While the team performed admirably in Pakistan, the surfaces were largely flat and unchallenging.
Jos Buttler and co. never seemed to get the hang of the slow and low surfaces in Bangladesh and even struggled in the ODI series, despite the eventual victory.
To England's credit, almost all of the visiting sides have faced trouble in Bangladesh. India, much like white-ball giants England, slumped to a 2-1 series defeat in December 2022.
Other major teams like Australia and New Zealand have also fared no better after suffering series defeats in Bangladesh in recent years.
Despite the Bangladesh side going through a transition, the Tigers have not lost the trait and the formula to consistently win matches on home soil.
#2 Bangladesh were able to capitalize on England's lopsided team combination
A common trend was observed in each of England's three defeats in the series, which was the absence of a credible middle-order batter to negotiate the overs preceding the death overs.
The visitors' team combination saw all-rounder Sam Curran come into bat at No. 6. While the all-rounder has shown his credentials in the past with the bat, the No.6 position was a tad too high for him considering that the conditions were largely alien for him.
The playing XI also showed a bit of complacency and the fact that there was no change even after a defeat in the first T20I, spoke volumes.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain also criticized the team's combination by stating that they played a batter short. He told Sky Sports:
"We are the England cricket team, it's an important tour. We saw what it meant to Bangladesh, and we have to treat it with the same respect. They didn't have the right balance of squad.
"We've got 18 counties, if we can't put an extra batter or two on the ground in Bangladesh, if it means flying Pope or Crawley, who I think will be a good white-ball cricketer, I don't think it's good enough to say we are one batter short."
Prior to the series, Curran had only played a total of four times at the No. 6 position.
An extra batter at the position while shifting the all-rounder to his accustomed No. 7 slot would have resulted in a more balanced outfit.
#3 Contributions by all-rounders and impeccable fielding
The all-rounders had a massive say in the three-match affair.
Bangladesh all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan were influential with their contributions, but the same could not be said for their English counterparts.
England, as is their regime, fielded a plethora of all-rounders in their playing XI. The likes of Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, and Adil Rashid were all part of the playing XI but were far from creating any sort of impact in terms of either scoring runs or claiming wickets.
In the recent past, most of Bangladesh's downfalls have been self-induced, primarily due to their poor fielding.
Right from major tournaments to bilateral series, dropped catches and silly misfields have been constant, which has hurt the team's causes on multiple occasions.
However, this time around, Bangladesh were on point with their fielding, leading to team skipper Shakib Al Hasan and England coach Matthew Mott admitting the same after the series.
Shakib said:
"Everyone noticed our fielding in these three matches. We out-fielded England, who are themselves a good fielding side. It is a big tick mark. Our biggest improvement is in our fielding when I consider every aspect. We should always field well, but we have targeted to become the best fielding side in Asia. After this performance, I don't think we are too far behind."
Matthew Mott stated:
"Bangladesh definitely out-fielded us in most of the games, but particularly today, and that's something we're going to focus a lot on as a group."
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