Asia Cup: From across Bay of Bengal, Islanders bring in a sea of change
Chandika Hathurusingha has united a fractured Bangla dressing room. (Source: BCB)
Camaraderie was a big part of the Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka Asia Cup contest. Bangladesh’s coach Chandika Hathurusingha and his assistant Ruwan Kalpage got congratulatory hugs from the opposition bench after his team’s 23-run win. The two Sri Lankans while masterminding the downfall of their own country had helped Bangladesh rise in stature in the limited-overs format.
Hathurusingha’s appointment as Bangladesh coach in 2014 didn’t follow convention. He didn’t have to make a formal presentation to get the job. Bangladesh were getting stagnated under Shane Jurgensen and a change had to be brought about. But it was unusual to nominate his successor without a proper interview or PowerPoint presentation. Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud, now team manager and a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director, played a key role in the whole episode. He convinced BCB president Nazmul Hassan to ignore formalities. “I knew Hathurusingha since his days in league cricket here. He had been working at New South Wales assistant coach and Sydney Thunder coach. As a non-Australian, he had to be extremely good to get those contracts. I needed no further proof of his coaching ability,” Mahmud recounted, speaking to The Indian Express at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium indoor complex.
Hathurusingha, a former Sri Lanka middle-order batsman, got into a fractured dressing room. Bangladesh always had individual talent, but the whole was never greater than the sum of its parts. “They were a very experienced side when I came. They had played a lot of cricket. But the challenge was to change the mindset. It was about guiding them in a proper way to think about the team perspective. They were very good individual players, but I think they were never given the direction properly. I had to bring a lot of clarity into the conversations and had the BCB’s full support in that regard,” Hathurusingha explained.
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Big changes ensued – from preparation to tactics, via mental toughness. “We changed a lot of things in terms of approach, preparation and tactics. Training sessions became short, sharp and situation specific. We put a lot of emphasis on the mental side of the game. The boys had to know that losing was a bad thing. We incorporated a full time (sports) psychologist into our support staff. I have had a two-year contract, so basically it was a two-year project. First season was about acclimatisation and then we focused on results,” said the coach.
And results started to come from the back end of 2014, with a 5-0 win over Zimbabwe. In fact, that was the prelude to a golden run in 50-overs cricket in 2015, when Bangladesh reached World Cup quarter-finals followed by series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa. They unearthed a bowling hero answering to the name of Mustafizur Rahman. Progress hasn’t been that impressive in Test cricket and T20s but Hathurusingha feels reaching the ongoing Asia Cup final and playing well in the World T20 will mark the team’s emergence in the shortest format as well. “I think Bangladesh are very close to winning a major tournament. It will happen sooner rather than later,” said Hathurusingha.
But is this Sri Lankan hand in Bangladesh’s rise just a coincidence? For so long, the BCB had banked on Australian influence for improvement on the field – from Dav Whatmore to Jamie Siddons and Jurgensen. What made them rely on people closer to home?
“We felt the team needed someone to share the same culture. Not that Hathurusingha has been talking to them in Bengali, but being a man from the subcontinent, he understands their psychology better,” Mahmud opined.
The coach concurred. “We are similar people; very, very warm. Our thinking follows a similar line. Sri Lanka developed as a cricket nation a little earlier than Bangladesh. So we can relate to them easily.”
Communication gap had been a problem with the earlier coaches. Hathurusingha’s arrival brought in clarity. To make things even better, the coach appointed former Sri Lankan spin-bowling allrounder Kalpage as his No. 2. “I had worked here from 2008-2010 as the academy head coach and developed a fine understanding with the players. Our presence obviously makes the players feel comfortable. They can express themselves more freely, without a hint of complex. This is why the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh association has been working well,” Kalpage observed.
A son of the soil has also played his part. Captain Mashrafe Mortaza is a big influence in the changing room, contributing immensely to put a divided house in order. Bangladesh cricketers no longer play for their own records. They have learnt to play for the team.
