Tigers looking for consolation win

Bangladesh is already out of the race for the semifinals, but their head coach Russel Domingo is hopeful that the Tigers can snatch a victory against his home side, South Africa.

The Tigers have lost all the three matches they played so far in the Super 12 round and will South Africa in their fourth game of the main draw at Abu Dhabi today.

Domingo, who was the head coach of the proteas a few years ago, said in the pre-match press conference that from prior experience he can apply a few tricks.

“They are playing well at the moment. Having worked in South Africa for a long time myself, we know there’s always a question mark in the way they play spin. Hopefully, the conditions will help us tomorrow. There are certain areas we will look to exploit when we play against them. We have had some good discussions this morning,” said the South Africa born coach.

Though Bangladesh failed to win a single match in the super 12 round so far, Domingo is not unhappy with the performance as this has been the scenario since 2007.

He believes that out of three matches, Bangladesh were in a winning position in two matches, which is a positive sign.

“We have played against past champions Sri Lanka, England and West Indies. They are tough sides. In two of those games, we were on top for almost 80-90 per cent of those games. We have to look at the positives. We had Sri Lanka and West Indies under pressure. We didn’t finish well with the bat against West Indies. We didn’t finish well with the ball against Sri Lanka. We have to focus on the positive aspects and then limit the mistakes. We made mistakes in crucial stages,” Domingo told the media.

“Bangladesh have only won one game in the second phase of the T20 World Cup, ever. There’s an opportunity to improve on that record, to try to win the two games. It will be a big stepping stone for us. We have to open our account tomorrow,” he added.

Despite having some of the hugely experienced cricketers Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah on the side, Domingo thinks that the rest of the group are pretty young and they will mature with time to give Bangladesh the desired results.

“If you look at the age group in our side, I think we have come into the World Cup with the youngest average age for the players. Guys like Naim, Afif, Shoriful and Mahedi are young players. In big events like this, some players will make mistakes. There have been so many good performances from some of the young boys like Shoriful and Naim. As long as they are gaining experience from these mistakes, it will put us in good stead going forward,” he said.

Cricketers, board officials, cricketer’s family members all are actively taking part in the increasing verbal battle, but Domingo is not feeling the heat as he is not using any social media,

“Fortunately, I am not on social media. I don’t read too much of it. Most of my social media used to be when I was involved in fishing. Not so much cricket. So, I am not too sure what’s getting said out there,” he said.

“In terms of media, it is always easy to talk after the team is selected. The form is important in this format. Carrying out-of-form players can sometimes hurt you, especially a batsman. If you are not in form, there’s no time to find form in this particular format”, he said.

Domingo feels that Bangladesh has made mentionable progress which is being overshadowed by harsh criticism.

“I know there’s criticism about certain players and certain aspects of the coaching staff.

But I feel the team has progressed immensely. From being ranked No 11 in the world to being ranked No 6, in eight months, is a big achievement for Bangladesh cricket,” said Domingo.