Team effort is key, says Jayawardene
Photo - Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Khulna Titans was not quite bolstered by the big names of T20 cricket like Dhaka Dynamites or Rangpur Riders but yet they were so effective that in the last two years they broke into the top four. While it was quite a success for the team, its coach Mahel Jayawardene credited the team effort behind this achievement.
The former Sri Lanka star believed this team effort would be vital again in their ambition to reach the top echelon of BPL as he urged his local and overseas players to contribute, playing effective cricket.
“We rely on a team effort. We had a good season last year. Guys were all contributing. We still feel that as a unit, if you perform well we can win matches,” Mahela Jayawardene said on Thursday during his side’s practice session.
Khulna was the runners-up in 2016 BPL but couldn’t make it top two in the last season despite breaking into the top four. Nonetheless, according to Jayawardene they need to just replicate the performance of last year to achieve higher position.
“We just need to play the way we played last year. We played good cricket, but unfortunately we couldn’t get through from the playoffs. Hopefully we can go a bit further this year, push ourselves. We have to take one game at a time.”
“We are quite happy with the squad that has some really good talented players. We are very excited to have some young players from Bangladesh as well. We will try to push ourselves the way we did last year.”
Khulna Titans this year emphasized on buying young but effective players with Jayawardene himself looking after the players’ draft process. He however reasoned that Khulna was focused on producing players for Bangladesh while at the same time they thought about what they need for them to fight with neck-to-neck against the big teams
“We have had a look at them before buying them. We do our homework. I have seen what [Shariful] does in the Emerging Cup and Under-19s, which is why we bought him. We are excited to have him. It is also good to have someone like Taijul, and some of the guys from our side is in the Emerging group as well. It is encouraging for Khulna that we can produce players for Bangladesh.
While they focused on young talent, they also have some surprise buy like Ali Khan, a pacer from United States of America who showed his brilliance in Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
“We are excited to have him. It will be good to have him and Lasith (Malinga) together. He can learn as well. Ali is quite exciting. He has just started the leagues so he is inexperienced in that manner. He is quite keen to learn from Bangladeshi conditions and quality opposition. We are glad to have him.”
Having attached with the BPL almost since its inception, Jayawardene is happy to see the tournament’s gradual progress.
“People are seeing that tournament and competition is good. It is running properly for the last two years. The players are coming when they are available. It is good for BPL to get all the good players. It is also good for the younger Bangladeshi players to play with those guys, to learn a lot.”
