Bangladesh Cricket Board cleared the air on the future of men’s national cricket team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. A board official also said that the Sri Lankan will arrive in Bangladesh before the upcoming tour of India and guide them forward against the Asian neighbours. Since Faruque Ahmed took over as BCB president, there has been speculation regarding Hathurusingha’s role as well.
However, Hathurusingha has a contract until next year’s Champions Trophy and they just tasted a historic series win in Pakistan. But, it is no secret that Faruque has been vocal against Hathurusingha in the last two years as well. Meanwhile, BCB director Nazmul Abedin brushed aside all the speculation regarding the immediate future of Hathurusingha as well.
“The head coach will come, and he will be here in Bangladesh (and will guide the team against India),” Nazmul said.
“Shakib will come to India from England to play. For now we know this much and we want to keep it that way,” he said. “There is no injury problem as far as I know. Hopefully the whole team will be available. Shakib has gone to play County and I am hoping everyone else will be available. From September 9, the whole team is expected to practice in full swing,” he added.
However, India and Bangladesh are slated to play a two-match Test series and a three-game Twenty20 International series starting from September 19. The first match of the two-match Test series will start on September 19 in Chennai, while the second Test is set to begin from September 27 in Kanpur as well.
“These things happen (threat) and it is present while playing in almost all the countries,” said Nazmul.”I don’t think it’s a big threat. We will go the way our tour has been fixed. Naturally we are communicating with the host board and we are pretty confident that they will give us adequate security during the tour and increase it (security) if required,” he said.
“India will appreciate Bangladesh more than ever. They will try to play with a little more planning. They (India) may not see Bangladesh the way they used to see before. I think India are a little stronger compared to Bangladesh. So whether we can play with the mentality we had against Pakistan, whether we can keep that going consistently, will be a challenge for us. The pressure we were able to apply against Pakistan it may not be as easy against India. There we have to be more consistent, and show more patience. But self-confidence is very important,” he said.
“If we can hold it (the pressure), we have the ability to do good. Especially the power I saw in our bowling. If we can use it, then we have a good chance. We will dominate more than ever. Of course, they are a good team in any version. It is a little difficult to say about T20Is right now. However, Test cricket is a version that plays a role in improving the game of all formats. I’m sure that confidence will work here too. And as I said, the bowling is getting very good. Bowling power is important for any team and that will surely work in T20,” he concluded.
