Shakib blows off instant change

Bangladesh’s newly-appointed Twenty20 International skipper Shakib blew off talks of instant impact with the involvement of new personnel in the coaching staff as he said that the T20 World Cup later in the year was his aim for showing improvement.

Bangladesh Cricket Board appointed Sridharan Sriram as the technical consultant of the national T20 team in pursuit of changing their poor results in the format. The Tigers have only won two out of their eight T20Is this year, and with the Asia Cup and World Cup coming up, they wanted it to change.

BCB President Nazmul Hassan spoke of changing the mindset of the T20 team, and that the appointment of Sriram was done with such intention, but Shakib differed.

“I have no target (for the Asia Cup). My target is to do well at the World Cup, and these are the preparation stages for that. If I think I can change it within a couple of days or someone else can, we are living in a fool’s paradise. There are three months left for the World Cup, if you see an improvement there, that is our real improvement,” the Bangladesh T20 and Test captain said.

The Tigers’ Achilles heel during this barren period has been their batting, but Sriram is someone who is specialised in bowling. While BCB is mentioning his experience with Australia as a major factor, they are overlooking the fact that he worked with the likes of Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, and Ashton Agar mainly, not David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, or Aaron Finch.

But one key aspect that will go in Sriram’s way is that he worked as the batting and spin-bowling coach of Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore, meaning he might be of help to at least bring some changes in the thought process.

“I don’t think there is much to expect here (Sriram’s appointment). But as he worked with the Australia team for 5-6 years, and the World Cup is there, his experience will help us,” he said.

BCB director and the national side’s team director Khaled Mahmud also hoped for change following Sriram’s appointment.

“Sriram has been involved the most in T20s and he understands the matters regarding the format. Besides, there is a similarity between our and India’s culture. Communication will be easier. Considering everything, I am hoping that we will see some changes following his involvement,” Mahmud told the media on Saturday.