Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes is still optimistic about their chances in near future despite the Tigers having yet again failed in the finals of the recently concluded Asia Cup 2018.
The Tigers have failed to hold their nerves in the last four big series, losing the Nidahas Trophy 2018 to India, the tri-nation final to Sri Lanka at home and now Asia Cup loss is still fresh in the memory.
Rhodes insisted that he is not worried about what happened in the past, saying once they win a single title that will change things psychologically for Bangladesh to overcome the pressure of final.
He told Cricbuzz on October 1, “I am not too worried about the past. I think we are not very far from achieving it [winning a tournament]. Once we do that it will give us that mental space where we can think and successfully overcome the pressure [of final]. Winning tournaments is like a habit.”
The Coach is also pleased the way Bangladesh played throughout the six-nation tournament, as well as, said there were lots of positives to be taken from the Asia Cup, as their response in the pressure situation, saying it makes him optimistic about their future.
Rhodes explained, “There were lot of positives like the way Liton batted in the final or Mithun getting two 60-odd scores or Mehedi trying to establish himself as an all-rounder. Our spinners and pace bowlers bowled well while we were clinical as a fielding unit on quite a few occasions. Overall we could have a good look at our squad and playing without Shakib and Tamim and going this far is quite remarkable.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza also agreed with Rhodes' views, saying: “Somehow we are unable to make it count [in the final]. If we can earn success on one occasion than probably it will become much easier," he said."The way we started it never looked like we were nervous, but on the same hand the way our middle-order played it looked we were nervous.”
Mortaza signed off by saying, “They were playing shots like they were in lot of pressure where as if we just played sensible cricket we could have easily scored 260-270 runs [considering the way we started]. Mental aspect plays a big part during those times and to remove this psychological hurdle it is very important that we win a tournament. Perhaps then we can win big tournaments in future.”
