Walsh for consistency from team
COLOMBO: Courtney Walsh, interim head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team, has exhorted his batsmen and bowlers to contribute as a unit in the virtual semi-final clash against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy T20 tri-series on Friday. In the pre-match press conference, Walsh expressed concern over the lack of consistency in the team.
“If I were to say, yes (Bangladesh bowled well), I would be lying. We bowled okay but not as good as I might have expected. The improvement is coming but it is not coming quickly as we would have liked. A few batsmen have got starts but they have not continued to finish the job. We want a little more consistency in our all-round play,” the Caribbean pace bowling great said.
Rubel Hossain has been the stand-out bowler for Bangladesh in this tournament, with four wickets in three games, including a good spell in the death overs against India in the previous game.
Walsh said the youngsters are trying to get their lengths right in good conditions.
“The bowlers have not bowled consistently as we would have liked but that does not mean they are bad bowlers overnight. It is different conditions and they are trying to get it right. Most of these guys are youngsters and they are still learning the tricks of the trade. Hope Mustafizur Rahman comes back to his best. In the Pakistan Super League, he had some awesome games,” Walsh said.
Courtney Walsh, the first pace bowler to reach 500 wickets in Tests, said variations were the key in T20 and praised Shardul Thakur and his death-over bowling against Bangladesh on Wednesday.
“It was evident yesterday (vs India). In this tournament, you need to have the variations; you need to have change of pace and those good yorkers at the end.
“It completes the skill set and that is what we have to execute in the middle. The boys have the skill, but it is the lack of execution which is hurting.”