Hathurusingha backs Shakib's decision to bowl first
Chandika Hathurusingha at press conference
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Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha backed skipper Shakib al Hasan’s decision to bowl first against England in the second World Cup match at Dharamsala.
After winning the toss Shakib chose to bowl first in the hope that the fast bowlers would get some advantage after some overnight rain at the venue.
The bowlers aimed for the right spots most of the time, but even small mistakes cost them heavily against an England team as a result, they gave away a massive 364 runs.
“I don’t think we made a mistake by bowling first. Because the wicket had something and especially since it’s a 10:30 am start, and then yesterday, little bit of rain. There was something on the wicket. The fact was that we did not bowl good areas, our lengths and lines were not good,” said Hathurusingha in the press conference.
The coach was disappointed with the fast bowlers for failing to execute the plan and take wickets early in the game.
“We were little disappointed the way we started. We could have bowled a little bit more onto the stumps, especially in the first 10 overs. We came back well,” he said.
“The fast bowlers were unusually off-color in the powerplay in the last two games. Normally, in a day game, early on, there is something for the fast bowlers. So, if we had some early wickets, the story would have been different,”
Hathurusingha stated that he is not concerned about the openers as the newcomer Tanzid Tamim flopped again however he was pleased to see Litton Das regaining his form who struck the highest 76 runs for the side.
“It is a concern if you are not scoring. But then Litton coming into form in this game good positive for us. And then, Tanzid scored runs in the two practice games, so he was in form. So, it’s two failures. In the WC, it can happen for any team. So, I’m hoping those guys will fire,”
“The biggest positive to take away from this game is Litton coming into form. The way he batted is a good sign for us and for him as well. We know he is a match-winner,” he added.
Bangladesh will now travel to Chennai for their upcoming match against New Zealand on October 13.
