Talha Kamal
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sacked ex-coach Steve Rhodes for World Cup debacle with 1-year remaining on his contract. South Africa's Russell Domingo has now been given the responsibility to be new mentor of Tigers. Interestingly, the reason for which BCB sacked Rhodes, new coach Domingo also shares the same mentality.
Rhodes’ policy was to give cricketers interest greater priority. He encouraged the young cricketers to understand their responsibilities. His main aim was to bring out the best performance from the cricketers without causing unnecessary stress in the dressing room.
In a recent interview, Domingo hinted he will go with the same policy as his predecessor. The South African coach has said that he will work for Bangladesh team by giving priority to the players.
For Domingo, cricketers come first, then everything else. Domingo said, “I will look at the interests of the players.
I enjoy working with them all the time. The players will be the top priority for me. I have to get the best out of them, help them.
The more information they can give, the more I will try to help. Without the players we are nothing. They are the ones who will get my priority. “
Since 2011 World Cup, Bangladesh have changed the coach five times because of lack in chemistry with both board and players. However, Domingo does not take these negative aspects while taking charge of Tigers, “I did not think too much about it.
I worked in South Africa’s cricket, there were a lot of coaches coming and going. It happens in every country. If the team does not do well, then somebody has to take responsibility.
This is nothing new.” His philosophy is also a bit different, “As a head coach you should focus on the things you can control. These are part of the coaching. For the last four-five years, all teams have been changing the positions of head coach. That’s the way it is, will continue. There's really nothing we can do about it.”
Just like his home team South Africa, Domingo will also work with experienced cricketers in Bangladesh, with the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad.
It is not unknown to him how important the coach’s relationship with the senior players is to the team. “Bangladesh team have some big names but at the end of the day we are all humans.
I’m also a human. We need to build good relationships between ourselves. Everyone should walk in the same direction.
Relationships with senior players are one of the most important
things. Having a good relationship with everyone is a big part of coaching.”
Mashrafe bin Mortaza's career is almost over. The next few years will be important for other senior cricketers too.
From now on, BCB has begun to think of future and want new cricketers to emerge, make a strong pipeline of national team players. Domingo will also emphasize on this aspect, “I would like to see some young cricketers coming through. It’s good to have competition among the players. Managing their workload
will be very important in the
years ahead.”
Meanwhile, Bangaldesh players along with skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes etc. joined a 35-man preparatory camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
