Bangladesh coach says they will play proper game in a proper match

Bangladesh played two warm-up games and lost both – against Pakistan and India respectively in the build-up to the Champions Trophy opener against England tomorrow. They lost to Pakistan after posting a huge total with the help of a thunderstorm from a Faheem Ashraf. And last night, they suffered a massive 240-run defeat, chasing India’s 324 at The Oval. At one stage, they reeled at 22/6.

But Bangladeshi coach Chandika Hathurusingha, while speaking to reporters after the India game, hid his frustration and tried to sound positive. This was the worst possible way for Bangladesh to start their Champions Trophy campaign after performing so well for the last month when they beat New Zealand in the Ireland tri-series.

Looking at the positives 

“We have tried different combinations in both the practice games. Our target was to take the positives out of the two games and that’s what we are going to do,” Hathurusingha said.

“We didn’t score runs. They bowled well at the start. So it showed how important it is to have a good start that we had in the last few games. I think they bowled well,” he added.

No major changes to be made

He also made it clear that no changes will be made in the playing XI in the opening game of the Champions Trophy. But their approach will be different. He also liked to believe that against India, except for poor batting, Bangladesh did well in the other departments.

“There is nothing to change, it’s only two practice matches. But once the tournament starts our approach is going to be different. Our preparation has been spot on over the past month. Even today except for our batting, which was wayward, we did well,” the coach observed.

He also said that Bangladesh will put their best foot forward when it is needed the most, i.e. in the main tournament.

“Then again it’s only a practice game. When we will get into a proper game we will be proper in our approach,”

From the game against India, he picked Rubel Hossain’s three wickets as the silver lining.