Ban vs Ind 3rd ODI Chattogram – Shane McDermott

All members of the Bangladesh squad turned up for an optional practice session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Friday, except for Mehidy Hasan Miraz, captain Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Ebadot Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.

“You have to ask the selectors (about the playing XI) but when you’re playing against your country, India, unless there’s a workload management issue, I don’t think Bangladesh can rest players for the sake of resting players,” McDermott said. “We don’t tend to win enough consistently at the moment to have the luxury of leaving out good players. We try to pick our best team as often as possible, to win as many games as we can. The job is never done. We don’t take international matches lightly. This team is not ever beat India 3-0, it’s a huge goal for us.

“Even if we don’t win 3-0, we’re really proud of the fact that we’re hard to beat. We’ve come close against Pakistan in New Zealand. We were close to being able to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. We’ve been competitive and we’ve been under pressure more often than not. I know that after the series win the boys are eyeing one more win in this ODI series.”

Despite the series win, Bangladesh’s top order is a cause for concern. They slumped to 69 for 6 after 19 overs in the second ODI, having already slumped to 136 for 9 chasing 187 in the first game. Only Litton has looked in good shape, while the others have either given promising starts or been dismissed early.

“That’s been a common concern for us. It’s a better wicket here (at Chattogram) with more value for shots. Our KPI from a batting perspective is that one of our top five batsmen is around 40. to take the game as deep as we can.

“Guys get through that tough first 20 balls, the hardest time to bat. Now the next step is to take 20 balls to 50-100 balls and match-winning innings. Someone in the top five is starting to do that.”

McDermott was delighted with the way Bangladesh have caught and fired during this series. They’ve dropped three chances in the series so far, taken eleven catches, and have generally improved their catchers this year compared to 2021.

Ebadot and Anamul Haque dropped two catches in the dying moments of India’s chase in the second ODI, but McDermott explained that he would not read too much into those drops as the team won in the end.

“KL Rahul also dropped one, so we all drop catches. Talking about the fear factor, we think about the possible consequences of dropping a catch when the ball is in the air. We see a lot of high balls dropped under the lights. , because the fielders have time to think. Trying to practice what we think when the ball is in the air is a very difficult task, but it can be learned.

“When we drop catches under the lights at critical moments, we create one of the biggest learning experiences. When a player walks off the ground, hopefully having won the game, we can easily tell them, look, catches don’t lose games. It’s a fact, it happens quite regularly, it’s part of the game.

“Obviously we want to drop as few catches as possible. If we drop catches, our support staff and our team gel together really well as a team. We try to keep everyone’s spirits up. Who knows, it could be somebody. Otherwise, tomorrow we drop one. We can lose a game, but like I said before, we’re very pleased with the way the boys train and commit on and off the pitch,” he said.

McDermott said he was enjoying his second season with Bangladesh after spending a couple of years as head coach of the National Cricket Academy in the early 2000s. It was a period when the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah made it through the NCA High Performance Unit to the senior teams. He said returning to Bangladesh earlier this year as a field coach was a smooth transition because he had friendships with many in the country.

“I loved my experience here between 2006 and 2008. I worked in the Academy, the A team and the national team 15 years ago. It was great to see the likes of Mahmudullah and Mushi make their debut and to work with them at the end of their stints. I think they have a very good group of youngsters around them and positive players. We have a good foundation of four or five senior players. They have been excellent in bringing new players into the team.

“It’s nice to have friendships with senior players from a long time ago. It’s made it a lot easier to come back. I love watching them grow. Shakib, Mushfiq and Mahmudullah are the best players the country has ever produced. That’s a fact, statistically. It’s very humbling to come back and work here again with them.”