When everybody was celebrating Bangladesh’s first Test draw in Galle, coach Shane Jurgensen could not join the party all the time. He admitted to have been burnt deep inside, despite the draw, as the pace unit that he leads in the team still looked very ordinary.
As the tour progressed it continued to remain so and in some cases it was even embarrassing. The first one-day international in Hambantota did nothing to improve the mood of Jurgensen.
Opening the bowling, Abul Hasan and Rubel Hossain conceded 96 runs together in 10 overs to suggest if this was the worst pace bowling attack a Test-playing country can ever have.
Jurgensen saw some improvement in the rain-ruined second one-day international where Bangladesh still had the opportunity to bowl five overs. They gave away 33 runs but still created some chances which could have easily come their way.
The little improvement gives the coach some hopes that they can still bounce back and make a match-winning contribution in the last and final one-dayer today.
‘I always believe in my bowlers,’ Jurgensen said in the press conference on Wednesday. ‘We certainly did not bowl as well as we can in game one. I saw some improvement, though it was only five overs the other night.
‘And we need to keep improving every game, and we need to execute the plan with the new ball and take early wickets. We haven’t quite done that in the first two games, we are looking to do that tomorrow night.’
One major problem Jurgensen identified in Bangladesh’s pace bowlers is their inability to make the right decision at the right time. As a coach, he said, he can only give them information and they have to use it for their cause.
‘A coach can give as much information as possible about the opposition. Players have got to fulfil the preparation,’ said Jurgensen. ‘If you are a bowler and on top of your mark you feel one second that either the plan one you got is right or two it’s become tough and that’s something we are trying to improve.
‘In terms of what we are trying with bowlers, when you bowl in good pitches, better pitches, your basics need to be really important. We could have been more accurate on this tour to create more pressure [if our basic was right] and that’s something we need to address in future,’ he said.
The coach, however, insisted that in order to be successful they just cannot wait for the one group to shine. Rather they must perform as a unit like they did in the recent home series against the West Indies.
‘Basically, for Bangladesh, we have identified, if we are to be successful we have got to play well in all departments,’ he said.
‘Against West Indies we did that really well, we bowled well, fielded well and batted well. It’s the same thing, we got to play as a team and execute in all departments to give ourselves the best opportunity to win,’ Jurgensen said.
‘And for me, it’s just making sure we play as a team, every decision we take on and off the field it’s team-based. We want to make sure we work harder, train harder. For this it is important to identify what we did when we had success.
‘Being the bowling coach for over a year, I have the opportunity to sit back and analyse I can see that. Basically what I am trying with my support staff and senior players, that we try and execute that in every game,’ he said.
-With New Age input
