Bangladesh’s batting and fielding coach Corey Richards regretted the lapses in fielding but blasted the top-order batsmen for failing to complete the job during the first ODI against Sri Lanka.
Despite being in a comfortable position in both innings of the rain-disrupted 43-over match, Bangladesh lost by 13 runs to go down 1-0 in the three-match series, getting bundled tout for 167 in 39.2 overs after dismissing their opponents for 180.
At one stage Bangladesh were looking to dismiss the Islanders for under 100 runs after reducing them to 67-8 before four dropped catches helped the tourists assert their authority.
‘I think it just comes down to concentration,’ Richards told New Age on Wednesday.
‘We are a very good fielding side and we have proven that in the last 12 months. We have been fantastic and I firmly believe that we are one of the top four or five fielding teams in the world.’
‘Statistically we haven’t dropped many catches in any form of the game in the last 12 months, and we were brilliant in the Twenty20. It was just a couple of lapses in concentration the other night that cost us the match.’
‘We just need to overcome those concentration lapses.’
Corey added that the Tigers need to regroup immediately during matches if they fail to hold any catches, as worrying about it can often lead to another mistake by the fielding unit.
‘Once you drop a catch, you can’t do anything about it as that is gone. You can only focus mentally on the next ball,’ said Richards, who was initially appointed the fielding coach by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
‘Thinking about the missed chance won’t help much, but still that can happen in cricket, where a missed chance can take the momentum away despite being quite sharp throughout the game until that incident.
‘They are professional cricketers and should understand that’s gone and we need to make sure to catch the next opportunity,’ said the Australian.
‘It was just a bad little period that we had dropped two catches in 15 minutes and the guys felt bad about it,’ he added.
Richards felt that it was the failure of the top-order with the bat that cost them the match.
While everyone is holding Sakib al Hasan, Mahmuduallah, Sohag Gazi and Nasir Hossain responsible for the defeat after being comfortably placed at 113-2 before they lost their way with two consecutive run outs, Richards had a different opinion.
‘Shuvo [Shamsur Rahman] has come into the side and fitted in very nicely, and he scored two half-centuries in three one-dayers and a Test century; that says that he is full of confidence.’
‘At the same time he has got a job to do. Scoring sixty is okay, but we would have liked if he had gone and made a really big score. He allowed us to be a little bit dynamic at the top of the order which is good,’ he added.
‘Statistically you fire more than you make runs. Even the great players can’t do that. So when you get an opportunity to make a big score it’s important that you do it. That the difference between good and great players,’ he said.
-With New Age input
