ICC World Twenty20, Srilanka 2012
No quick fix, says Pybus
Urges realism ahead of T20 World Cup
The Bangladesh cricket team will enter the last stage of their preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup, when they leave for Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday. The unofficial tour, which begins on September 6, will see the Tigers play Barbados and Afghanistan, apart from the hosts. Having already toured Africa and Europe, this will be Bangladesh’s third tour, away from home, in as many months.
“Confidence is the key to winning the game. These tours will help us adjust to the different conditions and improve our performance,” said Mahmudullah Riyad.
“We have played a lot of T20s in the last few months. We hope to win the practice matches and build a good momentum for the tournament. Tamim (Iqbal), Mushfiqur (Rahim) and Nasir (Hossain) coming from the SLPL, will definitely give us the required boost,” added the vice-captain.
Echoing Riyad’s sentiments, coach Richard Pybus stated that the team’s primary objective is to get past the first round of the tournament.
“We won six out of the nine games we played in Europe and that’s a good sign. We need to carry the good form and be at our best against both the teams in the tournament (Pakistan and New Zealand).”
Pybus, however, was cautious about his expectations from the tournament. “We are not going into the tournament as favorites, lets be realistic. Up until a month ago we didn’t even have a ranking… To be frank, our goal over time is to develop into a dominant side in the world. It is not going to happen overnight. There is no
microwave-quick-fix here,” said the Englishman.
While spin-bowling has traditionally been Bangladesh’s main strength, the team management, however, stated that they will have to use some other tricks up their sleeves in order to perform well in the tournament. “It’s not only spin. We have a good pace attack as well. The addition of Mashrafe (Bin Mortaza) has given us a huge boost. Our strategy will depend on the wicket, conditions and how we execute our skills on that day,” said Riyad.
With the tournament less than a month away, Pybus will hope that his charges execute the game-plan on the given day and will also expect the players to stick to their roles, a feature that was quite visible during the Asia Cup this year.
“I hope the boys can gain confidence from their performance in the Asia Cup and put up a similar effort,” he said.
Furthermore, he pointed out a change with regard to the mental strength of the current crop of players. “We came back from the two losses in the tri-nation series in Zimbabwe and went on to beat South Africa in the second game… So, we have definitely improved in this area,” said Pybus.
The results from the recent tours depict a mixed impression. While a clean sweep of Ireland and a victory against South Africa may have been impressive, a disappointing performance in Holland exhibited the vulnerability of the team.
One thing is for sure, no matter what happens in the practice matches, only a berth in the second round of the world cup can satisfy the ever-growing expectations of the Bangladeshi fans.
-With The Daily Star input
