Bangladesh have sent a message to the cricketing world says bowling coach Heath Streak

Bangladesh have sent a message to the cricketing world says bowling coach Heath Streak: Bangladesh’s bowling coach, former Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak has said that it is hardly surprising that the Bangladesh Tigers have won the series against India. He also showered praise on the Bangla boys giving them credit to the amazing series win. The team in the process sealed a berth in the champions trophy 2017.

Heath Streak told reporters: “No, it wasn’t surprising. Since the World Cup, we have seen a different Tigers’ team and definitely confidence is there and they now believe that they can win more consistently. In these first two games, they have shown some good fight and they now believe that they can win all three,”

Bangladesh have been on a mission and have proved to unstoppable over the past few months. They made their first ever world cup quarter finals, prevailed over Pakistan comfortably in a bilateral series and now have vanquished India.

Streak added: “Bangladesh have played well and executed their skills better than India have. So, yes they will be disappointed. They have great players and they will come back hard. But Bangladesh have to be given due credit. They performed and executed their skills in the conditions a lot better than India have in these two games. You can’t take away the performances from the Bangladesh team. We just want to keep things simple like the way we have till now.”

He also said that the victory sent a message to the cricketing world. “For Bangladesh, it’s huge to beat India and throw a message to the cricket world, and it’s fantastic. I have to give credit to the players. Players are the one who make the commitment, they are the ones who perform out there under pressure,”

The former Zimbabwe captain said Bangladesh’s victory in the second ODI reminded him of his country’s win against India in the 1999 World Cup. “It’s very different to play for your country and coaching, but as a coach this is fantastic and this means a lot for Bangladesh. And when I saw the passion and what it mean to the boys last night, it reminded me of when we beat India in the World Cup,” he said.

Streak defended MS Dhoni and asked the doubters to remember how much Dhoni has achieved. “[Dhoni] is a great captain and a great player. You can’t take that away from him. Sometimes, other teams are able to play well and I think this Bangladesh team for a long time has been under-achieving but now they are starting to realise their true potential. Especially in one-day cricket they are a force to reckon with. [But] They still have a long way to go.

“So, you can’t take away anything from Dhoni. he has had a fantastic career. He has won two World,” he said.
Streak also showered praise on Mustafizur Rahman who bamboozled the Indian team and announced himself on the international with two consecutive fifers.

Streak said, “Yeah, I am very happy. Obviously Mustafizur was fantastic. He was outstanding. To do that in two consecutive games and to get a record like that was something special and to get that against India makes all of the coaching staff really happy. Credit goes to the players as they are the ones who have put in the hard work and to see Mustafizur being supported by other bowlers is also good.

“He is still very young. He has taken 11 wickets but we can’t expect him to take five wickets every time. He has shown his potential. If we look after him and support him, he will be a big match-winner for us. When Mashrafe started, he was looked after throughout his career,” he added.

Bangladesh face India in the 3rd and the last ODI of the series on June 24.