A lack of understanding and an inability to perform as a team were at fault for Bangladesh’s dismal showing at the 2013 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup, team manager Abdur Rashid Sikdar said on Wednesday.
Bangladesh went to Malaysia with the hope of finishing sixth in the tournament but could not meet the expectations, finishing in seventh place, a position which is a sign of their gradual decline.
Sikdar spared coach Naveed Alam for his alleged poor tactics but questioned the role of some players who were busy demanding inter-club player transfers during
the build-up to the tournament.
‘There was a lack of understanding between the players and we could not perform as a team and that was the reason behind the failure of the national side,’ said Sikdar.
‘I did not see any fault with the tactics of the coach, who is certified by the International Hockey Federation, and there was no lack of effort from the players,’ he said.
Bangladesh did much better in their preceding competition in the World Hockey League round two in New Delhi but in Ipoh they could hardly repeat the performance.
After four heavy losses, the manager said they decided to drop a couple of senior players against Chinese Taipei in their last match and the strategy worked as Bangladesh romped to an 11-3 win.
‘We wanted to see all the players till the last moment against Japan. Afterwards, we had dropped a couple of senior players from the starting eleven in the last match against Chinese Taipei and it was a message to the other players, said Sikdar.
-With New Age input
