Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that Bangladesh are learning to understand and value leg spinners who are usually not considered a key player in the country’s cricketing aspect. Meanwhile, young leggie Rishad Hossain has been added to the Bangladesh squad and he did well before announcing his arrival on the biggest stage in Bangladesh’s opening game of the T20 World Cup as well as he has dismissed Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga off successive deliveries.
“It (Rishad’s performance) is the most pleasing thing to come out of the last game,” Hathurusingha told reporters. “We backed him for a year. We knew that he is going to win games for us. Winning that game was important. It was very satisfying. You know how challenging it is for us to get a leg spinner into the team. I don’t blame anybody. It is the culture. We don’t understand the value of a leg spinner. Even in this game he went for runs in the first over, so I give credit to Shanto for bringing him for the last two overs to change the game. I think we are understanding the value of leg spin, and he is growing in confidence,.”
However, Hathurusingha also said that he was happy to see the way Mahmudullah took the team over the line against Sri Lanka with his 13-ball 16* in the low-scoring match.
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“I was always impressed with his (Mahmudullah) ability to finish games and that’s why he is batting where he is batting. He has lot of experience and is one of the calmest guys in the middle under pressure in our team,” Hathurusingha said. “He knows his role so I was very pleased. In between innings, one thing I asked from him was that I want you to be there in the end whatever happens, which he did. It’s not the first time he has done that and it’s a big match and in most World Cups, he has done well for us.”
“The wicket hasn’t been easy for batters. It brings both teams equally into the game. South Africa has a decent bowling attack. We are confident of giving a good fight on this surface,” Hathurusingha said. “I am expecting better performance.( from top order) and two or three games ago, we had a 100-run partnership. Lately, we have been inconsistent. It is a difficult format to take time to get in form. You have to get going from the start. Confidence plays big part in T20 cricket.”
“Some of the batters are short of runs. They train well, but it is the lack of confidence due to lack of runs. The good thing is, Litton spent time in the middle to score runs. He played according to the conditions. We are expecting more from them. Once they get into the middle, they are on their own. They need to understand their game and how they feel. It is not technical. If you look at the dismissals, they are not getting out in a certain way. I think they need to calm down, and think about their strengths. When you are confident, you play to your strength. That’s the message for any batter: remember your actions when you are doing well,” Hathurusingha concluded.
