Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said on Thursday his priority will be to improve the fitness of the players ahead of their home series against Australia as it is expected to play a crucial part. The Bangladesh Cricket Board held a fitness camp of 27 elite players from August 22 under trainer Mario Villavarayan before Hathurusinghe took over on last week and started skill training.
Hathurusinghe insisted he will still continue focusing on fitness, something which is needed to be improved as Tigers played some grueling cricket since the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand early in the year.
‘This is the first time we got time to get back our fitness,’ Hathurusinghe said at a press conference on Thursday. ‘We have been playing since the World Cup.
‘Players need to get their strength back while their mind has to be refreshed.
‘Mario [Villavarayan] is really happy with the players’ commitment. Normally he is not an easy man to impress but he is really enjoying the work. I gave that compliment to the players.
‘It is a good mind shift from the players,’ he said.
Hathurusinghe said fitness will be crucial for the batsmen against Australia who are known to take advantage from the slightest of fatigue from their opponents
‘For the batsmen, fitness is crucial,’ he said.
‘You can’t play a long innings if you are not fit. The fatigue comes, your concentration goes, and as a batsman you need one split second failure to lose your wicket,’ he said.
Hathurusinghe said it is also important to keep the fast bowlers fit as Bangladesh do not have too many options.
‘We don’t have many fast bowlers but we have to look after them,’ he said. ‘I would love to see 10 fast bowlers fighting for three places. It is not happening at the moment. Whenever we can, we need to keep them fit and ready to play.’
The former Sri Lankan Test opener said he is looking forward to prepare his charges with the mindset of developing a Test team and he believes they will be able to put something historic against Australia.
‘Regardless of whoever comes, playing against Australia is a big task for us,’ he said. ‘I am really optimistic because the conditions are going to challenge them. We are improving as a team. I am hoping, we can do something that we haven’t done before.
‘You can’t take them lightly. They have the best system in the world to produce cricketers. Recently their ‘A’ team did well in India. It is going to be a challenge in any way,’ he said.
Bangladesh played four Test matches against Australia and lost all but one by an innings margin. Their only significant show in Tests against Australia is the fighting three-wicket loss at Fatullah during their last series back in 2006.
-With New Age input
