Early signs indicate Hathurusingha knows what he's doing
Bangladesh not only beat England by six wickets on Thursday, they simply dominated the world champions. And most of the factors Hathurusingha mentioned, worked like a charm.
Chandika Hathurusingha mentioned a few things in his pre-match press conference before the first T20I - Najmul Hossain Shanto being a useful batter against fast bowlers, giving youngsters the freedom to play the way they are comfortable, and the fielding side aspiring to be Asia's best. Bangladesh not only beat England by six wickets on Thursday, they simply dominated the world champions. And all the factors Hathurusingha mentioned, worked like a charm.
"The way he batted was impressive," Hathurusingha said about Shanto's batting in the ODI series where he bagged two half-centuries.
"Shanto really grabbed his opportunities in the ODI series. He's good against fast bowlers. He is a very good player for us going forward," Tigers' head coach added.
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And Shanto did repay Hathurusingha's faith with a match-winning 51-run innings off just 30 balls. He played classy strokes, hit boundaries all over the ground for fun and notched up a 27-ball fifty.
He allowed only two dot balls against pacers among the 13 balls he faced. Five of his eight boundaries came against the fast bowling attack consisting of the likes of Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Mark Wood. And his strike rate against the pacers? Well, a staggering 223.07.
Hathurusingha wasn't wrong after all.
Shanto's most productive shot was the pull shot during the innings which produced 17 runs for him including two boundaries.
Giving Shanto company was debutant Towhid Hridoy and the duo brought the asking rate under 6 per over by the halfway stage. And don't forget Rony Talukdar. He went all guns blazing scoring 32 off the first three overs to give the Tigers a solid start in the pursuit of 157 runs.
Hathurusingha did talk about giving youngsters the freedom to play their own cricket, and the likes of Hridoy and Rony absolutely listened to the coach's words.
Both Hridoy and Rony were rewarded with inclusion in this series due to their performance in domestic cricket, especially in the recently concluded BPL.
"I have only seen them in the nets. I've been impressed. They have done well in domestic cricket. So it's an opportunity for them to put their hands up," Hathurusingha said regarding the inclusion of Hridoy and Rony.
"We want to be the best fielding side in Asia," Hathuru declared before the match.
Bangladesh's fielding was top-notch on Thursday. Other than skipper Shakib Al Hasan's missed sitter, it was a fine day at the office for ground fielding. Shanto took three catches, all of them at the boundary line. Hridoy, Rony, Afif, and Shamim chipped in with valuable fielding efforts.
"Getting young legs on the field definitely helps. They are fast and energetic," Hathurusingha said when he was asked about the young legs on the field.
Hathurusingha said he is not a magician who can forecast results, what he can do is build a side ready for the 2024 T20 World Cup. But he did forecast some of the key factors behind the Tigers' dominating victory against the world champions. He may not be a magician, but as it seems, he really knows why he's here and what he needs to do. That's all Bangladesh cricket needs from him.
