'WT20 mission starts from SA'
Devika Palshikar, who was appointed the assistant coach of the Bangladesh national women's cricket team, joined the side yesterday.
The 38-year-old will assist head coach David Capel in the two-week training camp of the 30-member preliminary squad starting from today in Sylhet. Rumana Ahmed and her troops will leave Dhaka on April 28 for the tour of South Africa, which will be followed by the Asia Cup in Malaysia in June.
They will then embark on a 10-day tour of Ireland, after which they will fly to the Netherlands to play the ICC World T20 qualifiers. If they manage to qualify they will go to the West Indies to play the ICC World T20 in November.
The former seam-bowling all-rounder played 15 ODIs and a Test for India between 2006 and 2008 before embarking on her coaching career in 2009. She has worked as the assistant coach of the Indian national team between 2014 and 15. She was also the coach of Assam, Mumbai and Goa women's teams before taking up the Bangladesh job.
Palshikar informed that she is ready to work in all three departments and also expressed her plans in her maiden international assignment.
“I have been observing the Bangladesh women's team for the past six-seven years and they have the strength and confidence. But I think there is something lacking in technical aspects and they are unable to play as a unit at times. When you play on the big stage you need be stronger mentally. Whatever they achieved over the past six-seven years is good but it will take more time to reach the top,” Palshikar told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Batting has been the biggest concern for the women's team and although the new assistant coach did not want to comment on the issue at this early stage, she added that the cricketers need to work on their fitness to bring more power to their shots.
When asked whether nine months -- she has been contracted till December -- is enough for her to make an impact and improve the side Palshikar said that there would be a possibility of improvement if the players are able to adapt quickly.
“You are talking about the four international tournaments, with the fifth one being the World T20 and I am focusing on it. We will start our World Cup mission from the upcoming South Africa tour and move forward step by step,” she added.
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