Bangladesh Bowlers Shine in T20 World Cup Opener, Hathurusinghe Thrilled

Bangladesh's head coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe, expressed his delight with the bowling unit's performance in their T20 World Cup 2024 opener against Sri Lanka. Despite Sri Lanka's strong start, the Bangladesh bowlers rallied to restrict them to a modest 124 for 9.

Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain were the standout performers, claiming three wickets each, while Taskin Ahmed chipped in with two. Hathurusinghe praised Mustafizur's confidence and the bowling unit's collective ownership of their plans.

"The way the bowling unit has taken ownership of the situation and plans, it was very impressive," Hathurusinghe said. "My coaching staff is doing a good job by giving them a lot of information, but they are the ones making all the decisions in the middle."

Hathurusinghe singled out legspinner Rishad's performance as the "most pleasing thing" from Bangladesh's victory. Rishad's three wickets in two overs triggered Sri Lanka's collapse.

"We backed him [Rishad] for a year. We knew that he is going to win games for us," Hathurusinghe said. "Winning that game was important. It was very satisfying. You know how challenging it is for us to get a legspinner into the team."

However, Hathurusinghe acknowledged that the batters who are struggling with form need to regain their confidence. Soumya Sarkar, captain Shanto, and Tanzid Hasan were dismissed cheaply against Sri Lanka.

"We talk about their game, their strength, and their opposition. But once they [the batters] get into the middle, they are on their own. They need to understand their game and how they feel," Hathurusinghe said. "It is not technical. If you look at the dismissals, they are not getting out in a certain way."

"I think they need to calm down and think about their strength. When you are confident, you play to your strength. That's the message for any batter: remember your actions when you are doing well."

In the chase, Bangladesh lost three wickets in the powerplay before Towhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah steadied the innings. Mahmudullah's unbeaten 16 guided Bangladesh to victory.

"I was always impressed with his [Mahmudullah's] ability to finish games, that's why he is batting where he is batting," Hathurusinghe said. "He has a lot of experience. He is one of the calmest guys in the middle under pressure in our team. He knows his role."

Hathurusinghe also praised Litton Das for his 36-run knock, but emphasized that the other batters need to step up.

"Lately, we have been inconsistent. It is a difficult format to take time to get in form. You have to get going from the start. Confidence plays a big part in T20 cricket," he said. "Some of the batters are short of runs. They train well, but it is the lack of confidence due to lack of runs."

Tags: #T20WorldCup, #Bangladesh, #SriLanka, #ChandikaHathurusinghe, #MustafizurRahman