Dhaka, Oct 26 (IANS) Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons on Monday played down the upheaval caused by batting coach Mohammad Ashraful’s removal, adding that his side’s attention was firmly on putting their best foot forward in the two-match Test series against the West Indies, starting in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Bangladesh are currently fourth in the WTC standings, and Simmons said the prospect of reaching the final for the first time was driving the players when they took the field for the series opener in Mirpur.
The build-up to the series has been far from smooth. On Saturday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that Ashraful had been reassigned from his role, with Mohammad Salahuddin taking over as batting coach on an interim basis.
“I think everyone is very focused on the Test match. The same in the Test match in Abu Dhabi, I think everyone was focused on the Test match and what’s in front of them. I think there’s that goal and that desire to play in the World Test Championship, and this is the first time we’ve had that opportunity to be there. So I think everyone is going to be up and ready for the Test matches,” Simmons said to reporters in a press conference.
The change followed a poor outing in the UAE earlier this month, where Bangladesh drew their one-off Test against Afghanistan before losing both their T20I tri-series matches against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
Ashraful’s removal has been widely viewed as a knee-jerk reaction by the board, though reports also suggest the BCB is close to roping in a new batting coach ahead of the tour of South Africa.
Simmons, however, was unfazed. “Is this the first time there’s chaos before a match? Every series is important. Those that we played earlier in the year were important too. But the thing is how we go about our preparation for the series.
“I think that the group that was here has been excellent in the last three or four days. They’ve been doing their work, and now the whole team joins together. It’s what we do over the next two days; it’s not what’s happening outside, it’s what we do as a team to prepare.”
The coach also defended his batters over their approach in the drawn Test against Afghanistan, which went down to the final ball but was criticised for a lack of intent.
“I don’t think it was a case where they didn’t respond to the match situation. I think that they played it exactly how we wanted to play it. The wicket got better than we thought it would.
“So on the last day, it was a lot better than we thought it would be on the last day. I think that, at the end of the day, we should have won the Test match. We missed a run-out; we dropped a few catches. So, at the end of the day, we should have won the match, but I don’t think we played it in the wrong way,” he said.
The series will also see Simmons come up against his former team. He was the West Indies head coach when they beat Bangladesh 2-0 in a Test series in 2021, a tour that featured Kyle Mayers’ memorable 210 in a fourth-innings chase in Chattogram.
“I have very good memories and pleasant memories of that tour. I was the leader of the winning side, and hopefully I’ll have the same memories here, being the winner of the winning side.
“I’m not that emotional to say, well, look, oh it’s the West Indies. When they’re playing someone else, I’m on their side. When I’m playing against them, I still want to win the series,” concluded Simmons.
–IANS
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