Eyes on Zim, sight on World Cup

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha (C) draws his players' attention during the Tigers' training session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday afternoon. PHOTO: ANURUP KANTI DAS

By the time Chandika Hathurusingha took over as head coach in May this year, Bangladesh had lost seven T20Is, as many ODIs and two Tests in 2014. Those included unexpected defeats against Afghanistan and Hong Kong in major competitions at home.

Apart from those losses against non-full member nations, the Tigers failed to go for the kill during a number of crucial situations and gifted away wins. Losing to Sri Lanka after reducing them to 67 for 8, or going down to Pakistan after posting 326, their highest total in ODIs, are just a few examples of the matches that the Tigers should have absolutely gobbled this year.

It therefore wasn't a surprise that Hathurusingha, for his first task, was asked to help raise the players' confidence levels. Achieving the perfect score-line against Zimbabwe in the Test series, according to the coach, was a step towards that direction.

"When I came here, we sat down and talked about the areas, we were very much concerned about. How we execute our game plan under pressure was one of the problems; so that part of it, yes I am happy, but then we are still working on it," explained Hathurusingha prior to Bangladesh's training session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

The other aspect that the coach was pleased about was Bangladesh's batting. In the third Test, Bangladesh had posted their highest ever match total, 822. Tamim Iqbal, who looked out of sorts this year, had one of the best series of his career. Bangladesh's top order, which rarely manages to put more than 200 runs on the board, excelled in the last one month.

The coach, who individually spent quite a lot of time with each of the batsmen during training, believed that the players were steadily getting accustomed to their roles in the team.

"I have been working with everyone. Tamim is the one who really showed it in the middle, even [Mahmudullah] Riyad for instance really batted well.

"I am happy with most of the batters, they understand their roles now. It doesn't mean that they are going to score runs in every game but as long as they know how to go about doing things, they will be successful more often than not," said the Sri Lankan.

The ODI series is Hathurusingha's next challenge and he expects Zimbabwe's hard-hitting batsmen and accurate pacers to make it a tougher contest. At the same time, the Sri Lankan hopes to find the ideal combination for the World Cup.

When asked if the team was hoping for another whitewash, a popular demand among the country's cricketing fraternity, he replied, "That's what we would obviously like to have but you can't predict what's going to happen, it's important to start well; if you start well the momentum will take care of the rest. At the same time for me winning is a part of it, but the process is also there, the bigger picture for me is the World Cup combination."

As opposed to the Test series, which saw tracks favouring the spinners, the management might also prepare pitches that will help the Tigers get accustomed to the pacy conditions of Australia.

"We will try to prepare wickets that will help us win games first and then think about the World Cup as well. But the main thing for me is getting the players to perform to their roles and understanding them. That's more important than condition," said Hathurusingha.