Dav Whatmore: ‘I regret leaving Bangladesh in 2007’

One of Bangladesh's most influential coaches and the man behind their rise in the mid and late 2000s, Dav Whatmore is back in the country for the first time in eight years as part of a cricket team. The former Australian international cricketer turned coach is now working as the technical director of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) side Fortune Barishal. 

Halfway through the tournament, the side, led by Tamim Iqbal, have lost more than they won but are well and truly in the race for the playoffs. Whatmore said he is enjoying the experience of coaching here again in Bangladesh. 

He visited the International School Dhaka's (ISD) CricKingdom academy - where he is also a coach - to help budding cricketers there and to sit with The Business Standard (TBS) for an exclusive interview on his time with the national team and much more.

"It's been enjoyable to a point. It would have been nice to have won a few more games given the talent we have," he told TBS. "We've underperformed, it's fair, including the last match. We have to try and string together a couple of performances and see where it takes us as far as qualifying goes now."

Born in Sri Lanka, Whatmore is arguably the subcontinent's most important man when it comes to coaching. He has worked with teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal in the subcontinent and coached Ranji Trophy and Indian Premier League (IPL) teams in India. Most notably, he won the 1996 World Cup with Sri Lanka and helped Bangladesh enjoy a great deal of success, especially in ODI cricket. 

"In 2003, the team was not in a great place. I was with the Sri Lankan team during the 2003 World Cup and I joined a month later. In the history of the team, I guess it was a low time in Bangladesh cricket. Some will say it was a great time for me to come in and to be able to lift the team and become competitive."

"We did improve, more in the limited-overs format. But we did manage to win our first Test series against Zimbabwe, which was not a bad team back then, I must say. So that was memorable, but to see the team understand how to play limited-overs cricket was certainly rewarding," Whatmore said while reminiscing his time in Bangladesh between 2002 and 2007 as the head coach. 

The team's maiden Test win came in 2005 but it could well have come two years before. Bangladesh narrowly missed out on a win after a few questionable on-field decisions from Asoka de Silva and Russell Tiffin and Inzamam-ul-Haq's heroic innings in Multan. Whatmore said the results would have been different had there been DRS (Decision Review System). 

"If we had DRS, maybe it would have been different," he stated. "Not so much Asoka de Silva, but a guy called Mr. [Russell] Tiffin from Zimbabwe where we felt there were a few times where his finger going up but it didn't happen, especially against Pakistan's matchwinner [Inzamam] who batted till the end. But that performance helped the people in Bangladesh and the cricket board see that what we were doing was right."

Whatmore spoke at length about the changing landscape of cricket and said the current trend of two-match Test series is not helping.

"The world of cricket is changing with players opting for the shorter formats. The latest withdrawal we're seeing is Taskin Ahmed and for good reason, I think. His injuries will possibly stop him from playing the longer game. But yeah, a lot of other players from other countries have opted for the shortest format, especially due to the potential for better earnings. On the one hand, I'm hearing a lot of cricketers say we should play Tests for the sanctity of cricket but on the other hand I'm seeing a lot of them leaving. So I'm a little nonplussed about it but Test cricket is diminishing. 

"Playing two-match Test series is not enough, but it comes down to finances and if boards can't make money from hosting Tests, it becomes difficult. But from a playing point of view, you'd like to think that playing an odd number of games will give players more motivation to play. Even if you lose the first match, you have an opportunity to come back in the series," he mentioned. 

Whatmore, who is widely credited for creating a longstanding impact on Bangladesh cricket, still follows the team and said they have to keep in mind the alienism of conditions overseas while taking home advantage. 

"The team has definitely improved and got better," he said. "You've had some wonderful series wins against big teams at home. Taking advantage of home conditions is important, but you have to do that keeping in mind that conditions away will be different and it will be a tough ask to reproduce those."

Whatmore admitted that his decision to leave the Bangladesh post at the end of the 2007 World Cup was "premature" and he regrets not continuing the job here.

"Well, I left in 2007, looking back a little prematurely. A lot of people have told me. I was naive to have left for the neighbouring country (India) for greener pastures and that wasn't to be. To a point, I regret leaving Bangladesh then but you learn from experience. My wife even said that it was a career mistake but it did give you experience," he revealed. 

Whatmore, who was here last in 2016 as the coach of Barishal Bulls in the BPL, does not rule out coming back here as the Bangladesh head coach. 

"What is in front of me, I don't know. I wish I had a crystal ball. I've left doing Ranji Trophy assignments so that gives me time to do things like these. And also coach in the Global T20 in Canada. It would be unfair on the Bangladesh coaches now for me to come in because there are some tremendous people there. But if the opportunity presented itself, you never say never," he concluded.