Sridharan Sriram (Bangladesh consultant): I think we are very clear about the team we want to play
Bangladesh’s technical consultant Sridharan Sriram asserted that he is not too worried by the concerns of experimentation and expressed that the core think-tank is clear about the combination they would play with.
Bangladesh played four different opening pairs in their four matches in the tri-series as they settled on make-shift opener Mehedy Hasan and Sabir Rahman in their opening game against Pakistan while decided to open with Mehedy and regular opener Nazmul Hossain in their next game against New Zealand.
In their last game against Pakistan, Bangladesh picked to open with Nazmul and Soumya Sarkar, dropping Liton down #3 again where he scored 69 while Shakib stayed at two-drop, where he got another fifty.
Bangladesh’s technical consultant Sridharan Sriram asserted that he is not too worried by the concerns of experimentation and expressed that the core think-tank is clear about the combination they would play with.
“I think we are very clear about the best team we want to play so the captain, I, and the director are all on the same page. We’re quite clear as to what combinations we want,”
Sriram told reporters on Thursday.
“I think we have got two three combinations in mind and given the conditions we face on the day we might modify and adapt accordingly,”
he said.
“You look at it as experiments but we look at it as different combinations. You learn about your players when you put them in different situations and learn how each of them responds. I think we have learned quite a bit. We’re very clear about the combinations we go with against different teams,”
he said.
“It’s not about one slot (opening) I think for Bangladesh to win the game, everything has to come together. It’s not only about the opening slot or just about the pace bowlers. It’s about the entire team,”
he said.
“We had two opportunities against Pakistan. We had to score 100 in the last 10 in the first game and we had to defend 100 in the last 10 in this game. We came up short in both games by a small margin but these are little margins where we got to learn.
“If you want to win consistently, teams do that by getting 10 runs an over at the back end or defending 10 runs at the back end. I don’t think it’s about one particular slot or player but it’s about the whole team and all facets of the game coming together,”
he said.
Cricbuzz reported earlier that there is a possibility that Soumya Sarkar and Shoriful Islam are good to go to be included in the World Cup squad.
Sriram expressed that he is very open to changing the World Cup squad while adding that he is impressed with the way Sarkar carried himself in the two matches, though he made just 23 and 4.
“He (Soumya) played a shot and got out. That’s intent. I think he was selfless and played for the team. He tried to get going in the first few overs when we got only six or seven runs. He tried to force the pace and got out but it happens,”
Sriram said.
“He played a good knock at number three in the last game so I think there are good signs. For a player like him, we need to instill confidence. We still have time (to bring changes to the World Cup squad), and we have two more days. There will be discussions and we’re open.”