Tuesday marked the end of “tall poppies” in the dressing room, according to Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, and the veterans are preventing complacency from setting in. As the second Test commences, Bangladesh leads the series against New Zealand 1-0. They would earn their inaugural Test series victory over New Zealand with a victory or a draw in the second match.
“I can’t see complacency in the team. If I see any action of complacency, I will have one to one chat. We had a good chat in the dressing room yesterday. Strong and experienced leaders like Mushy and Mominul spoke very emotionally. I can see there’s no tall poppies in the dressing room,” Hathurusingha told reporters ahead of the second Test at the Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
Additionally, the head coach was ecstatic about the future leadership potential of stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Shanto, who is presently captaincy of the Test team in place of Shakib Al Hasan, is the foremost candidate to be bestowed with all-format leadership.
“Captaincy and leadership are two things. Captaincy was excellent. He was tactically on the mark. He was step ahead of the game most of the time. Very impressive field placing as well and sometimes unorthodox but very effective and his leadership was excellent. He led from the front with his performance. He was commanding respect, and demanding the standard,” Hathurusingha said.
“I think he has a long future ahead. The decision to appoint him as captain is with the board. They will make that decision when the right time comes. Definitely (a strong contender for captaincy),” he added.
The head coach further believed that his team would operate with a similar degree of autonomy as they did in the first match, and that the outcome served as a compelling advertisement for domestic cricket despite the absence of several regulars, including Taskin Ahmed, Shakib, Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Ebadot Hossain, and Tamim Iqbal.
“The message is the same. It is about going forward with what we have, understanding our strength, trying to compete in every session. It is a young side in sense of experience but they are really good in terms of skills. When they are given the freedom to play, the way they normally play in the NCL, they play well,” Hathurusingha said.
“This is a good advertisement for our domestic cricket. Seven players from that XI played domestic cricket. You can see their energy on the field till the fifth day. It is not about the outcome. It can vary in cricket. They were still there when the opposition had long partnerships. Those are little signs that I look at. The young team gave their all. The message is to do the same thing,” he added.
Hathurusingha, reflecting on the victory in Sylhet, commended the effort of his batsmen throughout both innings of the match. Bangladesh, which opened the batting with 310 runs, lost early wickets due to erroneous shot selection. While acknowledging the potential for higher scores, Hathurusingha defended the strategy adopted by his batsmen.
“Our second innings batting was crucial to win the game. We had two 90-plus partnerships and Mominul (Haque) in both of them. We could have scored a little more in the first innings but we decided a certain approach when the wicket is good. Things can go your way when you approach it like that. It can sometimes go against you. We played according to the conditions and our plan. I am happy with the performance in both innings,” he said.
Bangladesh utilized a solitary fast bowler in their previous Test match; therefore, their strategy heading into the Dhaka match remains to be seen. When Bangladesh and Afghanistan met in Dhaka for a Test, they utilized three quicks. However, Hathurusingha stated that the composition of his team would be contingent on the circumstances and the opposition’s weaknesses.
“I think if you know cricket well, you will have the combination depending on conditions and oppositions’ limitations, tactically. The pitch was different in the last Test we played here against Afghanistan. It was not on this strip. It was on the other side. He had a lot of time to prepare. There was no cricket leading up to that time,” he said.
“We decided to go with three fast bowlers because of the conditions and opposition. If you remember the Test prior to Afghanistan, it was a different wicket against Ireland. The fact is that we have all these skillsets now. We can use it the way we want. That’s a plus side for Bangladesh cricket,” he added
As a result of a finger injury sustained while batting in the nets, Nayeem Hasan is a doubtful candidate for Bangladesh in the second Test.
