CT 2017: Bangladesh coach defends lackluster show against India

Team Bangladesh walked into their second warm-up game riding on high confidence. They had plundered 341 runs in the first warm-up game against Pakistan. They were unlucky to have missed out on winning the game as Fahim Ashraf’s late blitz stole the show that day. In the second warm-up against India, the Bangla Tigers were humiliated big time.

Bangladesh conceded 324 runs and then bundled out for a paltry 84 to hand over India a 240-runs win. Certainly, the camp was dented with such poor show in the middle. Moreover, they had played without the services of their regular skipper Mashrafe Mortaza in the match. The defeat has alarmed the team camp ahead of their first match of the tournament proper.

After the defeat, team head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe defended the defeat. He noted that teams are bound to have off days at work. He, however, added that he is definitely not satisfied with the way things have panned out for the team in the match. Chandika is optimistic for the main tournament.

“It can happen because we’re all human. But then again, we need to understand what went wrong. It’s not that I’m satisfied – I’m a bit concerned as well but it doesn’t mean that we’re not confident. When it comes to the proper games, our combinations and plans are going to be different and probably we’ll execute better,” he quoted as per the quotes in Wisden India.

On positives from the game

Trying to cite positives from the lackluster performance, he admitted that the team has started to know about the conditions now. He expects the tournament to be a high scoring tournament this time around. “I think we understand the conditions, that’s one thing we can take forward. The last game, we got more than 300 runs. I think it’s going to be a very high scoring Champions Trophy because of the pitches,” he noted.

Getting a good start key to success

Lastly, he rightly pointed out that things can change quickly in the matches in England. The conditions have a big role to play and the Bangladesh team is ready for their tournament opener against England on June 1. If the team fails to get a good start, things can get grim for them. Hence, Hathurusinghe believes it is of utmost importance to get a good start against England.

“In cricket, anything can happen early on, especially over here in England. The conditions play a part but hopefully on Thursday (in their opening game against England), we get off to a good start and things go differently. It shows how important a good start is and we are looking forward to the challenge. If you don’t get a good start, doubts might come into your mind as it does for any team. Against England, we need to start well and that is what we’ll focus on,” the Bangladesh coach conceded.