Coach not concerned about Shakib
Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha apparently doesn't want to shed much light on the suspended all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan ahead of his team's challenge on the Caribbean tour.
The Sri Lankan appeared before the media after his charges' last practice session before the Eid break yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and made it clear that he was looking forward to making a fresh start.
"I am not frustrated, that's all your statement. I don't know and I can't understand why you are making this statement. So how can I make a comment?" responded Hathurusingha when asked how frustrating it was for him to be without his best player for the big challenge ahead.
"Any team will miss a player of that calibre, but what can we do? That is a reality we are faced with, so we are looking forward," he then replied to a question whether the team would miss the ace all-rounder, who has been suspended for six months.
The former Lankan Test batsman made a poor start with the team as the Tigers lost against a depleted India badly in the three-match ODI series last month, but he said that he was focusing on future.
"I can't get into the players' head. That's your statement. Losing is part of the game, so everything that has happened is in the past. We try to focus on the future and make a fresh start. We can't go behind to find out what happened. I am looking forward to the challenge, and let's see where we go after the next 6-8 months. I think the players are in a good mental state. We are getting performance coach coming here on August 3 or 4. We are getting all the help that we need at that stage," he said when asked about the mental state of his boys following defeats one after another in this year.
The Sri Lankan was happy with the way things have gone so far with the boys.
"We worked on specific skills stuff, not technical; how to improve individually -- batters and bowlers. I am happy with the way things have gone in the last few weeks. The next phase is to play a few games," said Hathurusingha.
"It's all about developing the skills level which we did in the last two weeks. We haven't gone into the analysing part, so when we come back after Eid, we will probably work on specific game planning," he added.
He informed that bowling coach Heath Streak will come back on July 31.
The players will get back to business on August 2 after the Eid vacation.
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