Hathuru implies that Bangladesh were not his family
There were many speculations surrounding Chandika Hathurusingha after he left the Bangladesh team Sri Lanka's cricket team as a head coach. He helped Sri Lanka gain triumphs over his former team across all three formats recently. In an interview with The Daily Star, the former Bangladesh coach discussed his views on those speculations along with other topics related to the present and the future of both teams.
Chandika spent three years serving the Bangladesh team. When asked if the team was like a family to him and if he had shared his decision of terminating the contract with them, Hathurusingha implied that the Tigers were certainly not a family to him saying, “I shared it with my family who live in Australia.”
The Sri Lanka head coach repudiated the claims of him being a dictator of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He said he was here to satisfy the board and the team and had to make certain decisions as he was accountable for his acts.
Hathuru said, “This comes with a certain level of authority – you have to do certain things as a leader and that doesn't mean you are authoritative. Because if you have a vision, if you have a goal to achieve, you make certain decisions and you are accountable. If you are accountable, it sometimes comes off as showing authority.
“You can't give in to everybody because you know what you want and what's best for the team. And in that sense, I have to make decisions which people may misunderstand. And then again I'm not here to satisfy the media and I'm not here to satisfy anyone other than the team and the board I'm working for. If they don't allow me to do my job, then I won't stay.”
The former Sri Lanka cricketer heaped praise on Mominul Haque and talked about his celebration after his century against Sri Lanka in Chittagong. Hathurusingha also stressed Mominul’s need to improve his techniques on certain wickets.
“Yes, I have not seen Mominul reacting like that before. I don't know about people's opinions and you have to ask Mominul. He is a very, very good Test player but he needs to improve because on certain wickets he can play very well but on wickets that are a little sporting, he needs to improve his own game. But he has improved a lot.
“For me, I have seen him in the last three years and he has become a really, really attacking player than before I came and he has changed his technique and is very intelligent.”
The former Bangladesh coach refrained from making any comments regarding choosing a player who will lead the Bangladesh team in future. He also said that there was no lack of intensity and the players tried hard in their tour of South Africa, following which the Sri Lankan put an end to his tenure with the team.
“No, I don't think so but we had a lot of injuries. If you remember, from the start of the tour the main players got injured. We did not have much backup at that stage and we did not have many players who had experience of playing in South Africa.
“Tamim [Iqbal] got injured early on and Soumya [Sarkar] was injured early on. Mustafizur [Rahman] was injured in the middle. So all of that affected us. I don't think the way we played was because of a lack of intensity. They tried hard,” said Hathurusingha.
When asked about the decision of resting Shakib Al Hasan during the Test series against South Africa, Chandika Hathurusingha said that he was informed about that a bit late and it was disappointing as he arranged the training schedules of some players who also have other international commitments.
“It is disappointing in that context. Then again, I would have loved to know about that a little earlier. That's all; because I got to know about that a bit late,” he said.
According to Hathurusingha, Bangladesh's win against England in 2015 World Cup was one of the biggest moments for him. That win turned things around for the sub-continental team and later they went on to repeat the incident of knocking out a mightier team in away conditions during 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
“The biggest change that Bangladesh had in my time was the first one; there was a lot more after that, but the first one was the most important for me when they beat England in Adelaide [in a 2015 World Cup group match]. That was a big breakthrough mentally, for the team to understand that they can compete away from home in Australian conditions and in a pressure match where both teams have to win to qualify. So that's a big breakthrough that if you ask me to pinpoint, that I think changed the attitude of players and the confidence going forward after that," Hathurusingha stated.
While talking about the most disappointing moment, Hathurusingha undoubtedly picked the 1-run loss against India in 2016 T20 World Cup which, even to this day, makes the Tiger-fans distressed. According to the Sri Lanka head-coach, the defeat was “shocking”.
He said, “I think that one in the T20 World Cup [the one-run loss against India]. It happened very quickly. We also did not have any time to reflect on it or think about what's going to happen because I mean with Riyad and Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim] at the wicket -- those are your best players to have in that situation when you have one run off three balls. You can't think of anything else other than winning. So, it was a shock for us as well.”
“The leading role is depending on the maturity or depending on the team you are coaching and I think if you think you need to step up, help and add value to the team, you have to add value to the team. You can also sit back and let them play depending on the maturity of the team.
Hathurusingha defended his lack of watching domestic games by saying that he had other people to do that; people who he trusted. He also said doing otherwise would actually mean dictatorship.
“I don't agree because I have other people to do that. You have to trust the people that you work with and you will have to trust people that you have assigned to do the job. It's like me trusting my assistant. I am not on board till I trust my bowling coach, fielding coach and batting coach.
"I mean, I will have to trust their judgment and call and at the same time keep an eye on everything. And that is how it works. I think that is why you think dictatorship comes [within me]. If you are a dictator then you don't allow other people to do their job [laughs],” he said.
Chandika Hathurusingha denied treating any player differently. According to him, it was necessary to give chances to the talented players like Soumya Sarkar. He was surprised that Sabbir Rahman did not play in the last T20I.
“If you ask all the players, I treated everyone equally. I did not have senior or juniors; I treated everyone equally. But I treated talented players and gave them enough opportunity to perform and they did, because it helped the team to win. Soumya is a very talented player and he is going to be a very important player for Bangladesh if you look after him. And there are other good players as well.
“It doesn't mean I had less time for the other players. I mean I had time for Riyad; when I came he wasn't performing. Now he has three ICC hundreds. I also gave my time to Mushfiqur and Tamim as well, and Imrul and Sabbir [Rahman] as well. I think Sabbir is a very talented player and I am surprised that he was not playing the last game [second T20I] on that wicket. There is Mehedi [Hasan] Miraz also.
“If the authorities look after these players, there is a good future. The thing is that they [players] failed. Cricket is a game of failing. You must not react too early. You need to give them chances. Give them time. If you identify talent, then you need to back it and you need to give them some extra time because you have identified them as talents,” he clarified.
Regarding Mustafizur’s injury and the lack of strength that the bowler possessed in his bowling, Chandika said, “He had surgery and it will take time. It takes one-and-a-half years to get back to normal. And his cutter is coming back.
“The thing is that on certain wickets he is very effective but on others, he is not. And that's normal because he can't spin the ball or bowl the cutter the way he bowled on the Mirpur wicket if he is bowling somewhere in Australia or England,” Hathurusingha opined.
The 49-year-old was tactful when asked if his departure has damaged Bangladesh team’s confidence. He gave credit to the Lankan team for outwitting the same set of players he had managed in the past.
Chandika said, “No, I don't think that way and I am also not in a position to say anything because I am not in the team now. If I say something now, it will constitute as judgment.
“I think the Sri Lankan cricket team played smart cricket. We put them under pressure and it's all credit to the Sri Lankan captain and players. They were very smart, they learned very quickly from the first two games. They understood the conditions.
“We were a bit surprised by the conditions in Mirpur in the first two games. We also lost the toss and that affected us. And then we came back with the very smart execution of game plans and Dinesh Chandimal led them very well once we understood what was happening.”
The Sri Lanka coach talked about the upcoming Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka which also involves Bangladesh and India. He also indicated that there no chance of him returning to the Bangladesh team and said that he is serving his dream with his current team.
He said, “We are trying for both things -- the biggest challenge for us is to get used to the conditions again, although they are Sri Lankan conditions. We need to get used to that again. That is always the biggest challenge in a team. At the same time, India are the benchmark at this stage so that can be another challenge.”
“I'm just starting and I'm loving what I'm doing. This is probably my biggest dream. I hope I last as long as I can for the Sri Lanka team,” Hathurusingha concluded.
