Interview: Mashrafe
‘How dressing room will receive him is the biggest question’
He had to retire from T20 in 2017 during the coaching tenure of Chandika Hathurusingha. Did Hathurusingha have roles behind that decision? Mashrafe bin Mortaza kept it a mystery. Bringing back the Sri Lankan coach, who left that year creating controversy, again for national team is ‘disgrace’ for Bangladesh cricket according to him. Bangladesh’s former skipper talked about the challenges and opportunities of the ‘second innings’ of Haturusingha during his interview with Prothom Alo.
Chandika Hathurusingha is given the coaching responsibility of Bangladesh men’s national team again. What is your take on it?
As a Test playing country obviously it is not good considering our dignity. We also brought back Jamie Siddons before. In terms of technical and tactical these two are the best coaches I have ever seen. Probably in that regard board thought bringing back Hathurusingha is good. There is also scarcity of coaches. So many franchise tournaments these days have made finding a coach very difficult. BCB’s decision is right in that sense.
Hathurusingha left his job without completing the contract last time. He did not return despite many requests from BCB. Returning to that very person conveys what kind of message?
That’s what I am saying. Had he gone properly like Siddons there would not be any problem. During that time Siddons wanted to stay in Bangladesh even as the batting coach. That is why there is no question about return of Siddons. But Haturusingha left without completing the contract. He did not even receive the calls or reply the messages of our board president. He left whimsically. There must be a matter of dignity.
Hathurusingha is returning as head coach even after such an incident, how much authority will BCB have over him according to you?
That depends on how BCB negotiated with him, what are the terms of his contracts. We do not know about these. Whether he is brought through request or by force, whether he was given offers, these all are different situations. The whole thing depends on how BCB brought him and how he manages everything. But a big if remains even after everything. The biggest question is, how will the dressing room welcome him?
Why is this question arising?
Whatever other people are thinking does not matter. The most important thing is how much comfortable he and the dressing room will be with each other. Apart from two to four new players most of the former players are still at the dressing room. It is to see how the coach reacts with them, whether he will forget everything that occured in past or even if he acts the same way he had done before, how the players react. But Hathurusingha is an international coach; he will definitely handle everything in a proper way. The quicker he does it the better for all.
How was the atmosphere of the dressing room during the previous tenure of Hathurusingha?
Even if something was bad one must say everything was right because he got results. He emphasised on keeping the discipline of the players which was necessary. Moreover, he had a tactical decision and that was to play a player in whatever position the team requires him and also in the bowling, pressuring to utlise the appropriate player in the right time. These decisions of his were good. We got good results thanks to them. Hopefully, he will do similar things this time round.
Cricketers had an allegation that Hathurusingha was rude in in his behavior…
Being a bit rough in Bangladeshi culture is not bad. Although we are an international team, I reckon one has to be a bit rough in Bangladesh culture. Our culture is like that, we worship the strong and become tyrant against the weak. I don't mind if the coach is a bit strict in that regard, especially in terms of discipline. A team is not formed only through one scoring some run or picking some wickets. Bangladesh does not have big names like Sachin Tendulkar. We do not have bowlers like Bumrah or someone like Kohli. Still we have to form the team. The atmosphere is vital to strengthen the team. If Hathurusingha may bring back that atmosphere the team will be benefitted.
Some controversies arose during the first tenure of Hathurusingha. Dropping Mahmudullah from the centenary Test in Sri Lanka and then attempting to get rid of him from ODI series as well, reducing Mominul Haque to only a Test player- Were those his individual decision or team decision?
I cannot say whose decisions they were. But as captain I said, I need Mahmudullah. After all, it is the captain who leads players in the field. Captain has to play the vital role. I also did so. That might harm me, because during that series I had to retire from T20I. (Smile)
So, it is right about the role of Hathuru for your retirement from T20-
How may you say there was no role? I did not discuss about it. BCB did not even gave me any hint about it. After the ODI series, all on a sudden during the T20 series---let us not discuss more about that. The point is that the captain has to play his role. What the coach wants may not always be right. If the captain does not take his position, if he thinks that everything is fine as long as my position is secured, then the other players will continue to suffer from insecurity. The team is good only if the coach-captain combination is good.
Currently Shakib is Test and T20 captain. Tamim is the skipper of ODI side. What will be the understanding of Hathurusingha with them?
As far as I understand, he is not supposed to create any inconsistency with Tamim and Shakib. Hathurusingha has a good relationship with Tamim. Despite some incidents here and there, Shakib is the best player of Bangladesh at the end of the day. I do not see any reason why Hathurusingha not coordinating with him. Apart from that, Hathurusingha also knows the culture of Bangladesh as he has worked here before. I believe he will also do as much as he can from his place.
During the last tenure Hathurusingha was involved directly selecting the side. That created a lot of controversies. Do you think he should stay with the side in same manner?
The coach-captain always has an involvement with team selection. Their opinions are must behind some discussions and some decisions. But if it is in writing that the coach will be on the selection panel, which was the case in the past, then the coach also becomes a selector. Sometimes it's not good, sometimes it's good. Hathurusingha's role this time depends on his discussion with Papon Bhai (BCB president Nazmul Hassan). But I think, Hathurusingha is returning even stronger this time.
Will that be god for Bangladesh Cricket in that case?
That depends on how much the BCB can hold the reins. There are some discussions within the team. There are criticisms in the newspapers. Hathurusingha is the right man to stop these. If Hathurusingha stays as before, it may be beneficial. Because, there was one thing about him - no one is above the team.
What will be the biggest challenge for Hathurusingha in his second innings as Bangladesh coach?
Our team is playing good at ODIs now. Our main target is World Cup 2023. The main job of the coach will be to form a synchronisation between players ahead of the big event and Haturusingha is supposed to do it well.
But he had the best Bangladesh team with him last time. The situation is not the same now—
I don’t think so. There are many performers in the team now. Liton is performing well, Taskin-Miraz are doing well. There are many pace options now. We did not have that many options before. As a whole, the situation is even better now. Tamim is playing well now, Shakib is number one all-rounder, Mushfiq has retired only from T20. Mahmudullah has been playing ODIs. Others are there as well. Hathurusingha is getting a better team comparing the previous one. The big thing is how he will progress combining the team together.