BanglaCricket Article

Since the start of the decade, Bangladesh have won more matches (9) against the top 8 teams than New Zealand or West Indies (7 each). Bangladesh’s winning percentage against the top 8 teams has been better than West Indies and marginally lower than New Zealand, with 4 wins against New Zealand, 2 against England, and 1 each against India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. The following table depicts how these 3 teams have fared since 2010.

It is against lower ranked opposition that Bangladesh have been disappointing, having won a total of 8 matches out of 14; yet West Indies have been ruthless, winning 11 out of 13. New Zealand has done well too, barring that famous series in Bangladesh and have won 11 out of 16 matches. In total Bangladesh have lost 4 matches against Zimbabwe and 1 each against Ireland and Netherlands.

Perhaps one of the reasons for Bangladesh’s success is that they have been able to stick to a core nucleus of players for most of their matches which has given the team stability and allowed it to develop and improve as a unit. 7 Bangladeshi players have played over 80% of their matches this decade with Shakib Al Hasan featuring in every single one. In comparison, New Zealand have only 3 players whilst West Indies have 2.

This has resulted in 4 Bangladeshi players surpassing 1,000 runs, compared to New Zealand’s 3 and West Indies’ 1. Bangladesh is also one of 3 countries to have 3 players take more than 50 wickets, the others being Australia and Pakistan. West Indies have 1 whilst New Zealand do not have any. Interestingly, India, despite playing a considerable amount of matches, only have 1 player.

When looking at the breakdown of the stats in terms of home and away matches, Bangladesh’s performance still is not too far behind New Zealand or West Indies. Their home form has improved and they have beaten twice as many top 8 teams at home than New Zealand. However, they have a marginally lower winning percentage at home against the top 8 teams than their counterparts. Their away form against the top 8 teams has been poor, with their solitary win from 9 outings coming against England in Bristol. West Indies’ away form is even worse, having won once out of 15 attempts; even Ireland has enjoyed a better winning percentage. New Zealand’s form has been slightly better, having won 3 out of 13 matches, although unlike the other two, they are yet to beat a team in their own backyard.

All 3 teams have high winning percentages against lower ranked teams at home, with Bangladesh and West Indies losing just a single match. It is away from home that there lies a big gap in performance among the 3 teams. West Indies have shown their superiority by winning 5 out of 6 matches they have played. In contrast New Zealand have only won half of their matches, with the famous ‘Banglawash’ series contributing significantly to against their favor. Bangladesh’s away form has been shocking, with more losses than wins, including humiliating defeats to Ireland and Netherlands. Neither New Zealand nor West Indies has lost a match against associate teams. Bangladesh has lost 2.

New Zealand fans may argue that the stats are skewed in favor of Bangladesh. The cynics will point out that Bangladesh (51) and West Indies (50) have played more matches than them (43) and that 67% of Bangladesh’s matches have been played at home compared to West Indies (54%) and New Zealand (44%).

At present both New Zealand and West Indies have 86 points and Bangladesh have 67 points. The difference, however, is not as big as it seems. Had Bangladesh won all of their matches against lower ranked opposition and beaten Zimbabwe 3-0 in the away series in August, and had West Indies lost their ODI away series to England 3-0, Bangladesh would have surpassed West Indies in the ODI rankings.

After the disappointment of losing the Asia Cup final, Bangladesh fans can seek solace in the fact that they have beaten more top 8 teams this decade than New Zealand or West Indies. And as the stats show, Bangladesh’s first step in moving up the ODI rankings does not necessarily involve beating the top 8 teams more frequently; rather it relies quite heavily on beating lower ranked opposition more convincingly. Bangladesh’s next assignment away from home in Zimbabwe will thus provide a yardstick to assess whether they are heading in the direction of becoming a top 8 team or whether the Asia Cup was just another flash-in-the-pan series.