Tanzid makes strong case for Bangladesh's T20 World Cup opening spot

Tanzid Hasan was entrusted with a difficult job of stepping into the big shoes of his hero Tamim Iqbal in the 2023 World Cup. A flamboyant strokemaker with very little experience of playing top-flight cricket, failures were inevitable for the southpaw. 

He had a couple of good starts but in the end, it was a disappointing campaign for him and his team.

He was not part of the white-ball series in New Zealand and Soumya Sarkar's return to form meant Tanzid had to go back to domestic cricket and work on his skills.

He had an exceptional Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he carried Chattogram Challengers on his shoulders and helped them to the playoffs. It was his first season as a full-fledged opener and the left-hander scored 384 runs at an average of 32, striking at 135.7.

Only Towhid Hridoy hit more sixes than him in the tournament and his strike-rate was higher than most other local top-order batters.

But such a stellar season was not enough for Tanzid to make the T20I squad against Sri Lanka. However, he got an opportunity in place of a struggling Litton Das in the third ODI and hit a career-best 81. 

What was impressive about that innings was the ability to score quickly inside the powerplay. In the World Cup and the BPL too, Tanzid showed he has the game to take full advantage of the powerplay when only two fielders are outside the 30-yard circle. 

Litton's indifferent form finally prompted Bangladesh to call Tanzid up for the Zimbabwe T20Is. The 23-year-old opener was given an opportunity in all five matches in the series and he grabbed it with both hands. 

He had just one major failure and finished with the highest run-getter in the series with 160 runs at an average of 40 and strike-rate of 123. The pitches were mostly slow and the series saw a host of low-scoring contests but Tanzid managed to impress with his stroke-play. 

He was left out of the XI for the first T20I against the USA for Litton but another failure with the bat saw him sidelined again. Tanzid had a fine start in the second T20I as he had a go at the USA new-ball bowlers, attempting to kill the game in the powerplay itself.

Despite losing his partner Soumya early, Tanzid hit a six off eventual Player of the Match Ali Khan and a four off Steven Taylor but was cleaned up by Jessy Singh on 19 off 15.

He showed good range in the powerplay in the third T20I, hitting left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar for two boundaries in the first over itself and putting pressure on the USA who were defending a low total. 

He hit the ball over the head of the mid off fielder for four in the third ball of the innings and followed it up by a beautiful inside-out drive over the covers.

Jessy was hit firmly through the covers in the fifth over and former Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers all-rounder Milind Kumar was slog-swept magnificently for six as Tanzid raced to 26 off 18 in the final over of the powerplay. 

By that time, the USA had little chance to be back into the contest. Bangladesh notched up 48 runs in the powerplay without losing a wicket. 

Tanzid maintained a good strike-rate throughout the innings as he found boundaries every over after the powerplay. 

Soumya, on the other hand, batted quite fluently and eventually managed to help Bangladesh to their maiden 10-wicket victory. It was a rare dominating performance from them after conceding the series to a lower-ranked USA.

Litton was drafted back for the third USA T20I but the Tanzid-Soumya opening stand was preferred. Given Soumya's all-round ability, he might be a first-choice player and now the management have to take a call on the second opener.

Tanzid and Soumya have opened together four times in T20Is. The average of the stand has been 73 and the run rate 8.7 per over. There are enough reasons now to be tempted to opt for the opening combo for the T20 World Cup. 

Tanzid is one of the most in-form Bangladeshi batters this year in the shortest format, scoring 632 runs in 19 T20 innings at an average of 36.52 and a strike-rate of 132.12. 

He still has a lot of limitations. He often slows down after the powerplay and struggles to run singles being a boundary-dependent player. But it is safe to say Tanzid is the best top-order batter Bangladesh have right now in T20Is and could make a big difference in the World Cup.