Pothas: We're looking to finish the tournament on a high

|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas was optimistic and boasted confidence ahead of their last Super-8 match from previous success against Afghanistan.

The coach believes Bangladesh will have an advantage as they have already played two matches at Arnos Vale Stadium, St. Vincent where they have beaten Nepal and Netherlands.

“I think in every single game of cricket that you play, you're looking to compete, and we absolutely will compete. We know that. We've had success against Afghanistan. We've played a lot of series against them. That game of cricket is no different to any other game of cricket when you put the Bangladesh clothing on, when you put that badge on, you're representing your country. It's an honor to represent your country, regardless of the game of cricket you play," said Pothas in the press conference. 

"So we have an advantage in that we play two games of cricket at that ground already, and we have had success against Afghanistan in the past. So we're very much looking forward to that game. We're looking to finish the tournament on a high,” Pothas said.

The assistant coach also reckoned the lack of power hitting among the Bangladeshi batters as the main reason for the team's underperformance in T20s.

“Look, I think one thing you've got to acknowledge is you can't fight genetics. So you have to have a genetic predisposition to power, initially. I mean, we see what Rishad can do. Rishad [Hossain] has improved and come on since that New Zealand series to now, he has been unbelievable in how fast he has improved. Now, it's a key. How fast he's improved. But power is something that takes a lot of time," 

"If you're not predisposed to being strong... West Indians don't have to find power. They're born with power. We're not born with power, so we have to do it a different way. We're looking at the strength and conditioning element. We're looking at different things of how we can do it in a Bangladesh way. But when you look at the competition like the IPL, if you as a player want to be successful, you have no choice," he added.