AUS Vs BAN: Australia Lose 4th Consecutive T20I Series, Have Aussies Lost Their Charm?

Australia lost the T20I series against Bangladesh by 4-1 and this marked their 4th straight T20I series loss. The last three T20I series losses came against West Indies, New Zealand, and England.

Image Courtesy: AFP

Anyone born in the 90s and who grew up watching cricket would know that Australia's dominance in world cricket was unmatched. Be it Ricky Ponting's team or Steve Waugh's team, there was no competition for them at their peak. On Monday, the Australian team got all-out for 62, their lowest-ever score in T20Is. 

Australia lost the T20I series against Bangladesh by 4-1 and this marked their 4th straight T20I series loss. The last three T20I series losses came against West Indies, New Zealand, and England. Aaron Finch-led Australian side is at their lowest, considering how well the Australian team has performed in the past. 

We would have seldom imagined that a Bangladeshi team that defeated Australia once in 2007 and celebrated it like they have won the World Cup would win a series 4-1 against them in 2021. Take a look at the Match Summary below:

Just how far will @BCBTigers go at the @T20WorldCup after their historic 4-1 series win over Australia?#T20WorldCup #BANvAUS pic.twitter.com/YBQWF1PYi1

— ICC (@ICC) August 10, 2021

Bangladesh had already won the series 3-1 before the start of the match. On winning the toss, Bangladesh chose to bat first and scored 122 runs - a low total in the context of modern-day T20 cricket. Australian bowlers bowled well but the batsmen did not perform as per their reputation. Even experienced T20 players like Moises Henriques, Matthew Wade, and others didn't look in control at all. Nine out of 11 cricketers scored in single digits. Wade was the highest scorer with 22 runs. Australia was bundled out for 62 runs and Bangladesh won by 60 runs. Shakib AL Hasan picked up 4 crucial wickets and won the man of the match award. Pacer Mustafizur Rahman was also impressive throughout the series. 

Australia have lost all of their recent T20I series vs Bangladesh, West Indies, New Zealand and England. Three were in 2021 and ENG series was in 2020.
They have no more T20 matches to be played before T20 world cup. Australia is in trouble before T20 world cup #BANvAUS pic.twitter.com/wHfBTCeNOm

— All About Cricket (@allaboutcric_) August 9, 2021

Has Australia lost the charm?

With the T20I World Cup just around the corner, it becomes all the more important to have this question. It's not usual for Australia to lose four back-to-back series'. The 2010 T20 World Cup finalists are looking very shaky, as far as their T20 form is concerned. 

Does Australia not have players like they used to up till the 2007 World Cup, and in fact, even in the 2015 World Cup, Australia had a great squad under Michael Clarke but the current Australian squad does not look as impressive as some of their previous squads. "Myself, Moises, Dan Christian, we are all experienced players and we needed to do better," said the captain Matthew Wade after the loss. 

Will the Australian team stage a comeback in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup? We'll have to wait to comment on that.