Tigers are clear about combinations, says Sriram

GBNEWS24DESK//

A number of issues, especially in terms of team selection, raised eyebrows following Bangladesh’s winless exit from the ongoing tri-nation series in New Zealand.

The Tigers lost all four matches, two each against Pakistan and the hosts, illustrating a bunch of issues the Tigers are facing in T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, Bangladesh technical consultant Sridharan Sriram said that despite the results not going in their favour, he has come out with clarity about team combinations.

Before coming to New Zealand, in order to ramp up World Cup preparations, Bangladesh played a two-match T20I series against a feeble UAE, and it was expected that several changes would be made to test out the squad.

But it was not to be as Bangladesh kept a fairly rigid playing eleven against UAE and instead chose the tri-nation series, involving top sides in Pakistan and New Zealand, to experiment with the playing eleven.

All players were tested, with the exception of Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain as the duo didn’t travel to New Zealand.

The team management tinkered with four different opening combinations in the tournament. Liton Das, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Soumya Sarkar — a reserve player for the T20 World Cup — were all given a go at the top. Ultimately, no pair could manage to meet expectations, leaving questions on who will open in the fast-approaching T20 World Cup in Australia.

Sriram, though, defended the string of changes by saying it helped him to gain clarity in terms of team combinations and, at the same time, got everyone prepared.

“You look at it as experiments, but we look at it as different combinations. I don’t think it’s experiment. You learn about your players when you put them in different situations and learn how each of them responds. I think we have learned quite a bit and we’re very clear about the combinations we go with against different teams,” Sriram said in the post-match press conference on Thursday.

“For example, for South Africa, we will have different combinations compared to when we go up against India or West Indies, or whoever qualifies. We have to have all options ready.