Foreign coaches will not fix everything, says Taskin
Taskin Ahmed has said bringing in foreign coaches would not change Bangladesh’s fortunes overnight, after the team’s 99-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening match of the tri-nation series in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Bangladesh’s coaching set-up has a strong local presence, with Mohammad Ashraful as batting coach, Talha Jubair in charge of the pacers and Ashiqur Rahman handling fielding.
Criticism has followed each setback, and Taskin rejected the idea that nationality is the issue.
“Whether they are local or foreign, everyone’s basic ideas are the same. It is not as if everything in the world will change just because foreign coaches arrive. The local coaches in our team are also quite capable,” Taskin said at the post match press conference.
He added that the scrutiny reflects how results drive perception. “When we lose, there is a lot of criticism of local coaches, but when we win, they receive less praise.”
Bangladesh were bowled out for 172 chasing 272, after Taskin took the first three Zimbabwe wickets to leave them 24 for three.
A 150-run stand between Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine then took the game away, and Zimbabwe finished on 271.
Taskin said the early success meant little without a win. “No matter how many wickets I take, whether three or five, it is never of any benefit if we do not win the match.”
Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan put on 47 for the first wicket, the highest stand of the innings. Only Taskin and Rishad Hossain, with 32 in 26 balls for the ninth wicket, added more than 30 together.
Taskin pointed to that lack of partnerships. “Unfortunately, we could not build a single partnership. Just one partnership would have taken the game away. At least there is some consistency in our bowling. Actually, the batters should have won it, but they could not.”
Captain Towhid Hridoy, leading in place of the injured Litton Das, struck the same tone at the post match presentation when asked about the chase, again placing responsibility on the batters.
“It was chaseable. As a batting unit, we should take responsibility to chase a target like this.”
He called the batting “disappointing” and said, “we made silly mistakes. Hopefully, we will overcome this.”
Taskin backed the squad despite the absence of Litton and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who missed out through a fever.
“The others who played are also quite capable. You also saw this pitch a few days ago, when the Test against Afghanistan went into the fifth day. Partnerships could have been built if we wanted to.”
He also named the collapse habit as the real problem. “When we come under pressure, we collapse very quickly. This is what we need to get out of. If we want to become a big team, we have to overcome this somehow.”
Bangladesh still have at least one match left and Taskin wants a response. “We will try to put up a good fight, come back strongly and make it to the final.”