Having made a fine start to their campaign at the 2019 ICC World Cup, Bangladesh was served some hard reality with defeats against New Zealand and England. But up against the West Indies on Monday, the Bangla Tigers will be hoping to bounce back and get back to their winning.
Speaking to the reporters in Taunton on Saturday, their bowling coach Courtney Walsh sounded confident of Bangladesh doing well against the Windies, a team that they beat thrice in a Tri-nation competition ahead of the World Cup. “We were very consistent in every department right throughout that tri-nation," Walsh said. "We have been hampered a little bit by the weather here. It is out of our control. If we can get the consistency in the next couple of games, who knows what can happen?"
While their bowlers have done well so far, lack of consistency and discipline seems to have cost them, especially against the better outfits in New Zealand and England. And Walsh believed that’s an area the team needs to improve upon.
“You have to have pace sometimes but for me, consistency, control and execution is more important. If you don't have the 140-150kph, then you have to compensate (for) that. We have certainly been consistent, hitting the right areas and getting good variation. The guys have been working hard but you will have bad games here and there. Consistency is the key for us, and try to get good variation," he said.
Bangladesh have enjoyed the better of the results against the West Indies in the recent past, winning seven of the last 10 matches against them. But Walsh was cautious to not look much into those numbers. "We have to do it all over again. We will be looking in the context of the game itself. We will be seeing players who didn't come to Bangladesh or play against us in the West Indies. They are probably full strength. We have been playing consistently well against West Indies," he said.
Finally, when asked to divulge some information on his side’s preparedness to tackle the threat that Chris Gayle and Andre Rusell carry, he said: “They are two dangerous players we have to try to restrict, and get them out at the same time to have more control of the game. We will be focused on their team itself, because they have very good players in their team as well. I am sure we can perform as a team against West Indies.”
Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Munir Ur Zaman
