Follow UsBangladesh have played 11 T20Is in New Zealand and lost every single one of them. They also lost 18 ODIs on the trot against the Black Caps in New Zealand before finally winning one last week, and Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes that win could motivate them to better their abysmal record in this part of the world.
"We haven't won a T20 game over here. This was the same as one-day cricket but then we managed to win the last game," said Hathurusingha ahead of the first of three T20Is in Napier on Wednesday (December 27).
"Certainly it will help (ODI win over New Zealand at Napier) mentally when you have a good win always you feel good and because you have done something you want to repeat again no matter what the format is and that will give us confidence leading into the T20Is.”
Bangladesh have played three T20I series so far in 2023 and won all of them, beating England, Ireland and Afghanistan at their home. They are scheduled to play three 11 T20Is before next year’s T20 World Cup and Hathurusingha wants to assign every player a particular role.
"Plan wise condition dictates. Lot of the plans we want to play at the same time we want to keep one eye on the T20 World Cup and so we are trying to get our plans right for that,” he said.
"We got 11 games now and then the BPL as well but this is a national team so we are trying to get our combination and give the players kind of roles that they will play during the World Cup and so that's the plan.
"I said 11 matches from now to the World Cup and that's what we got in terms of matches. Whether it's ideal or not that's all we got we have to get our plans and roles right within that period.”
Hathurusingha also heaped praise on Soumya Sarkar who scored a century in the second ODI and then picked up three wickets in the third encounter. "Very happy with the way he (Soumya) performed and I always knew that he is capable of playing.
"He has shown before when I was here and we all say that class is permanent. Form affects many things, especially what goes through your head. The more clear you are and the more you understand the role and the more comfortable you are with the environment, every player maximizes their potential.
“He is in good head space and there is no reason that he can't perform in the T20 World Cup. The second ODI was like a make or break moment for him. What we did we trusted him and gave him confidence and whole team trusted him. That's what I think he drove strength from.”