Bangladesh have potential superstars in their ranks: Jamie Siddons

Bangladesh's new batting coach Jamie Siddons was hopeful that the young batters in the team will prosper with enough time and coaching. Ahead of the third and final ODI against Afghanistan at Chattogram, Siddons praised the likes of Afif Hossain, Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz after their innings helped the hosts seal the series.

"I have already seen some young talent in the two games: Miraz, Afif and Litton. They are quality, classy and calm cricketers who will only get better. The more they play, the more times they will perform in big matches," he said in the pre-match press conference.

Siddons, who had previously worked Bangladesh's head coach, remembered the developmental phase star batters Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim went through early in their careers.

"We have to remember that Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Riyad were all inconsistent when they started. We could have dropped them at any stage of their career. If Shakib wasn't a good bowler, he would have been dropped as a batsman a lot of times before he started to succeed. But he held it together because he was a good potential batsman," the Australian said.

Mehidy and Afif smashed unbeaten fifties to take Bangladesh to the victory in the first ODI while Liton's 136 off 126 balls propelled the Tigers to the victory in the second game. Siddons felt that patience is the key to see the team develop future superstars.

"We have got some potential superstars here. We have to give them time, pick the right ones and nurture them. We should give them opportunities without putting too much pressure on them. I have no doubt that they will be the new Shakibs and Tamims," he added.

With the 2022 T20 World Cup on the horizon just few months after a dismal 2021 edition in UAE and Oman, Siddons stressed on the importance of Powerplay and death overs.

"T20s is the focus, because it is the next World Cup but we are also preparing for a lot of games. It won't be me making experiments with the team. I will be working with whatever batter I am handed. We will definitely have a list of players in line for T20 cricket. I will try to improve them in that format. We are looking to get better at our starts, our powerplays in T20s, and definitely finishing a bit better than we do," he said.

Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan in the third ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Sunday.