As the saying was for politics that you never know about the turns. This is also true for Cricket as well. You remember Chandika Hathurusingha who was the former Bangladesh head coach. He is again scheduled to arrive in the country on February 20. The last time when he quit the job, he abandon the team. To the surprise, he is going to start his second stint with the same enthusiasm. Hathurusingha’s appointment is as the successor to Russell Domingo.
Russell gave a sudden resignation to the team. In his second inning, Hathurusingha has signed a two-year contract with Bangladesh. He will begin his new tenure with the home series against England. He is going to face a few challenges ahead of this second coming. Plus, the second inning is always more difficult in cricket compared to the first.
Uniformity In T20 And Tests
The biggest challenge of his return is to find the evenness in Tests and T20s. There is no doubt that Bangladesh has come out as a tough performer in ODIs. But to be consistent is always a matter of concern for the team so as for the coach. In both formats, the team has odd encouraging performances.
There are two main reasons for the absence of consistency in the team. First is the lack of a set opening pair and the knowledge of suitable batting templates. The coach’s agenda is to recognize both reasons and to do the needful. This is an aspect that dodges the Bangladesh cricket team. Moreover, the team is also going through a change that seems to be a bit more challenging for him.
In his first stint, Hathurusingha harmed the Bangladesh cricket team by taking shortcuts. But he had a big hand in recovering the team from the defeating situation. He has a fine cricket brain to improve Bangladesh’s build in the two formats. After a shuffle in the team, Khaled Ahmed and Ebadat Hossain arrive as pace bowlers. This is to give the lift to the test squad. Plus, there’s a need for Hathurusingha to keep them going victoriously. Next, for T20Is, the need at the moment is to identify and polish the best players for next year’s World Cup.
Keep Up Of The Pitch And Team
Last time Hathurusingha prepares wickets for the cricket team. It was for a judicious turn against England and Australia. It did not bring any long-term benefit for Test cricket. But given the biggest ‘harm’ and he also broke all conventional norms of cricket. For the same, he faced criticism for preparing the kind of pitches. Next, under the Sri Lankan’s tutelage, Bangladesh recorded maiden Test wins. But continued to look out for pace and bounce.
A similar outcome was for T20Is before the 2021 World Cup. They got great results against New Zealand and Australia. But for the showcase, the team failed to shelter a single triumph in the group stages. So preparing winning wickets and pitch is a major confrontation for the head coach.
Hathurusingha’s Character Trait
Hathurusingha’s nature is also one of the leading challenges he faces as a coach. Also, controlling him will be a challenge for the Bangladesh cricket board. His temperament did not allow him to survive as coach of his native Sri Lanka team for too long. This must be a great fear that he will turn into an oppressor after reappointment for a second term.
During his first tenure as coach, Hathurusingha had turned into a great dictator. Sometimes it seemed that he is the most commanding man in Bangladesh cricket. Yet, it was a big fault for them as they tiled the way for him to become like that.
Calibre Intensify In One Day Internationals
During his first tenure as Bangladesh’s head coach, there were several notable successes. This was his biggest achievement with the group. With consecutive ODI winnings, Bangladesh became an imaginative force within cricket. In the quarterfinal of the 2015 world cup, the team was at par in performance. Next, a superb performance in the semi-final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. There also, Bangladesh, the team won successive ODI series against Pakistan.
Plus, after beating England and Australia in Mirpur, Bangladesh won its 100th ODI test against Sri Lanka. These three successive wins were Bangladesh’s supreme victories. All in all, Hathurusingha’s first tenure will have to be struck as an achievement. So, the next step in Bangladesh’s ODI evolution is to gear up the team is a new confront for him. He needs to shift the way to approach the game, with the bat to stay on par.
