Bangladesh batters get satisfied with fifties, says Sriram
Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz
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Former Bangladesh technical consultant Sridharan Sriram rued over top-orders poor performance in the World Cup and stated the players become satisfied with the fifties only.
Bangladesh team crashed out of the World Cup with two wins in nine matches but ensured the Champions Trophy berth. Sriram was disappointed with batters not being able to convert their fifties to hundreds and claimed they lack the hunger to score big.
"Our inability to get meaningful hundreds is what hurt the team the most. The top-four batters not getting even one hundred is the most disappointing part of the team. The teams that qualified, have guys who are scoring double-hundreds. It is slightly different than what we see in Bangladesh. I think that's where we missed out a little bit,” Sriram told ESPNcricinfo.
"My genuine concern is with these players getting satisfied with fifties. You have to push their boundaries and get big scores. That's where world cricket is going nowadays. All the youngsters coming through are being able to convert fifties to hundreds. Rachin Ravindra is a great example. Take a cue and lead from these players, and be hungry for bigger scores,” he said.
Sriram heaped praises on Najmul Hossain Shanto who ended the tournament with just two half-centuries in nine innings and reached double-figures three times.
"I think Shanto has raised the bar for younger players, by converting his fifties to hundreds in the last six to eight months,” he said.
"Shanto is someone who wants to get better every day as a batter, person and team-man. He wants his team to win. I think he was unlucky a couple of times. Getting run out for 45 in the last game would have hurt him. He could have got a hundred against Sri Lanka. So little things like that would hurt him a lot more. His biggest learning would be to get a big score whenever he gets a start,” he added.
