The Bangladesh team is reaping the benefits of a short break after their successive defeats in the Sri Lanka series and the Asia Cup as it has allowed them to regroup, coach Shane Jurgensen said on Wednesday. After nine successive defeats, the Tigers turned things around in their first practice match against the UAE and only began to grow in confidence after coming off a series of disappointments.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to give them an opportunity to have a break from their usual practice routine, calling on players to return for the ICC World Twenty20 without a practice session for three days.
‘It was a good opportunity, for the guys to just take a break for two days,’ said Jurgensen.
‘I think [the break] gave players and even myself an opportunity. We have sort of been in a can for the last three months.’
‘It gave me an opportunity to go home to my apartment and have a look at the whole programme for the t20 world cup and focus on that.’
‘The previous two months were quite hectic and we had a lot of injuries, and that’s what helped as well. We have quite a settled line-up as well now.’
Jurgensen added that he did not try anything drastically new, as he believed that it was only matter of time before everything settled down if his charges continued to work hard.
‘I think we just felt as though we had close losses and probably had games we should have won. I suppose [if] we just continue to work hard and do the right things, eventually the results will come our way.’
‘We haven’t really changed too much, but just took a few days’ break. As a squad, we know how important this tournament is for Bangladesh after the tough times we had. We tried to be as specific as we could for T20 cricket,’ he added.
Batsman Anamul Haque said that he had made some technical changes that he believes are producing result at the moment, along with his game plan of staying at the wicket before going for his shots.
Anamul had lost his spot to Shamsur Rahman but eventually returned with the bang, scoring a century against Pakistan and he has since been a regular in the opening spot.
‘I try to play forward these days,’ said Anamul.
‘I worked on a few technical things to improve; hopefully it will help me in the future.’
‘Actually, when the wicket is good and when the pace ball doesn’t swing, then it becomes easy as a top-order batsman.’
‘No matter how hard they bowl, it becomes easier. So I decided to see off the first couple of balls,’ he added.
-With New Age input
