Follow UsBangladesh are well and truly out of contention for a place in the World Cup semi-final. However, they will look at their match agianst Sri Lanka on Monday (November 6) in Delhi as an opportunity to finish in the top eight and secure a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Speaking of the campaign, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha takes responsibility for the team's debacle and reckons that the team put themselves down by having high expectations. Ahead of the tournament, Bangladesh aimed to play the semi-final, and the head coach believes that it just put some extra pressure on the team.
"I take responsibility as well as anyone in the group because we have disappointed the fans, and we disappointed ourselves as well. We didn't play our best cricket, but the thing is, nothing has changed from the first game to now," Hathurusingha said ahead of the Sri Lanka match.
"Only [what] has changed is what's going through between our ears. Our skills haven't gone anywhere. So, I think we put ourselves down by having high expectations. That's the only thing that we can think of is that we haven't played our best cricket or what we were capable of or we played before coming into the World Cup. So, in that sense, it's we all need to look at mirrors and see what went wrong."
Delhi has been in the news for the wrong reasons, as the air quality in the city has worsened over the days. In fact, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka cancelled one of their practice sessions for the same reason. Hathurusingha says that the team is taking necessary steps to avoid unnecessary exposure.
"We were a little bit concerned. That's why we cancelled one practice session as well. So, we are trying to minimize our exposure to the outdoors much as possible because we need to practice as well as well as that we have to be careful long-term effect of this condition," Hathurusingha said
He also added that the team doctor is keeping a close eye on the players.
"Our doctor has kept a close eye on players. Some of the players didn’t turn up for practice as they are asthmatic, so they stayed indoors. And even for practice, we're very conscious. We train what we have to train, and they go back into the dressing room. They don't spend time unless they're bowling or batting," the head coach, who took charge of the team just seven months before the World Cup, said.
Most of the Bangladesh batters have not been in the best of forms in the World Cup. Right from Litton Das to Shakib Al Hasan to Najmul Hossain Shanto, they have had a tournament to forget. Hathurusingha has, however, insisted that having an extra batter in the squad would have certainly not been the solution.
"One more batter would have made things complicated. When we selected this team before, before the World Cup, they had been performing," he said.
"Their skill hasn’t gone anywhere, whatever is going through our heads is the only thing that is disturbing us. We haven’t played to our potential, we haven’t shown what we are capable of, and for some reason, we have gone into a shell, especially batting. That is what we need to fix and come and play fearless cricket."