Bangladesh national cricket team returned home on Saturday after their disastrous performance in the Asia Cup T20 in the UAE.

Bangladesh played two matches in the event in Group B and lost both matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Batters failed in the match against Afghanistan while bowlers failed to defend a total of more than 180 against Sri Lanka.

Nearly all the senior players of the Bangladesh team failed to prove their mettle. Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim were like their shadows in the Asia Cup.

In contrast, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have done well in their respective roles, but that was not enough to conceal Bangladesh’s inefficiency in the T20 format.

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Bangladesh’s next assignment is to play in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Before the World Cup, the Tigers will have a chance to prepare well in New Zealand where they are scheduled to play a tri-series involving the hosts New Zealand and one more team.

The Bangladesh T20 World Cup team will start their preparation at home on September 12 in Dhaka.

The T20 World Cup will begin on October 16 with the matches of the initial round between Sri Lanka and Namibia, and the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.

Bangladesh will play directly at the Super 12s stage. The first match for Bangladesh is on October 24 against the runners-up of the Group A of the initial round.

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While the top eight teams of the T20 Ranking will directly play at the Super 12s, eight other teams will fight in the initial round to qualify for the Super 12s.

Along with Test playing nations— Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe and Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Scotland will take part in the initial round of the T20 World Cup. Four teams from this round will qualify for the Super 12s.

Bangladesh are in the Group 2 of the Super 12s where they have India, Pakistan and South Africa along with two teams from the initial round. In Group 1, Afghanistan, Australia, England and New Zealand will take on each other along with two other teams from the first phase.