Iqbal ready to take on former mentor Hathurusingha
Bangladesh face former coach when they take on Sri Lanka
It’s been nearly a year since Chandrika Hathurusingha, the Sri Lankan coach, quit the Bangladesh team to take charge of his country of birth, but the ripples of that sudden move has not quite died down in the cricketing circles.
“Yes, we will want to beat our ex-coach, though not in a revenge sort of way. We are very close to the guy with whom we have worked for four-five years,” said Tamim Iqbal, the senior Bangladesh opener ahead of their crucial Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka tomorrow.
The lung opener between these two teams in their threeteam group, as Iqbal points out, will hold the key if Bangladesh want to progress in the tournament and finally lay their hands on the Asia Cup — where they have twice lost in the final in last three editions.
“Under the new format, you need to qualify first for the Super Four and take it from there. It’s a tough tournament with all very capable teams like India, Pakistan and Lanka — hence we will have to take it on a match by match basis,” said Iqbal, the only batsman from his country to have scored more than 10,000 international runs.
Hathurusingha, who had never made his reasons for leaving the Bangladesh job public, nevertheless attributed to his use of “inside information” after beating his former team in both Tests and ODIs in a Bangladesh tour early this year. Iqbal, on his part, has been passing on some of his experience of the local conditions in the UAE to his team management.
“This may be the first time Bangladesh have come to play here, but myself, Shakib Al Hassan and Mamudullah have played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and have a fair idea of the wickets. The wickets here are good for batting but sometimes, it helps the pacers and spinners as well,” he observed.
Top-class opposition
Now 29, Iqbal has come a long way from his initial years when he would be often accused of throwing away his wicket after getting good starts. Despite turning out for Bangladesh, still very much an emerging force in world cricket, the freestroking left-hander has often performed against top class opposition — with his century against hosts England in last year’s Champions Trophy still fresh in memory.
Does the tag of being the highest scorer for his country bring any extra pressure on him? “I don’t look at myself that way and cannot leave on the past. There are, of course, a few personal targets [like winning this continental event] but we need to win the opener to start with,” he said.
As a parting shot, he also has a message for the sizeable expat Bangladesh population here who are cricket crazy. “Please turn up in big numbers and support us,” he added.
Meanwhile, batsman Danushka Gunathilaka has left the Sri Lanka squad with a lower back injury. He will be replaced by Shehan Jayasuriya, who will fly to the UAE today.