Biggest thing for me is the change in players' mindset - Hathurusingha
With ODI series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha looks at the changes that are helping the side move forward
It gives me great satisfaction at the way the boys responded to the challenges that we had before with us, and then changed the culture we had before, believing in themselves mainly. I was very satisfied as coach.
It is not me, it is the boys who did the turnaround. We had two losses [in the T20 series] and then we lost the first ODI. We had a good chat inside the dressing-room and we always talked about how we can complement each other's roles, which we didn't do before. Everyone has a role in the team, which makes us very competitive, so that's what we spoke about. To bring those [roles] to attention. The boys responded really well to that challenge. It makes things easier if you stick to individual strengths.
One thing we talked about is, they all have roles and they have to stick to their roles. They are accountable. I am accountable for certain things as a coach and my staff too is accountable for their roles in the team.
For me as a coach, and my coaching staff will say the same thing, coaching a team like this gives you most satisfaction. There's a lot of potential and they have never achieved this potential before. All of these victories, whatever comes our way, we cherish very well. That's what I tell the players also. Enjoy your success. I told them after this series as well in the meeting also: go and enjoy your success. Go and celebrate with your loved ones, the people who helped you in your careers.
The belief, in any walk of life, comes from how you behave over a period of time. If you are very consistent in the way you do things in life, I think people start to trust you. They know what they get from you. If you are inconsistent depending on the situation of the game and what environment is thrown at you, if you are not being consistent, people don't believe you. This is my principle in life. I think this is one reason that they started to trust me.
It is not fair for people to tell us to prove ourselves by winning overseas. Tell me which team is consistently winning overseas?
He has been a match-winner for us, isn't it? He is world-class. I saw him once scoring just 13 runs one day, here at this ground. I just came here for a practice game. They were playing an organised game and I was just walking around the ground when I saw him batting. There were two shots that gave me some idea.
During the World Cup, our strategy was to have three openers in our top-three batting slots because of the two new balls and pitches. I think it worked for us. If you remember the New Zealand game, it was one of the toughest spells of bowling in the World Cup. I thought whoever scored against New Zealand at the World Cup was at their best. We got 260-something; after seven overs we were eight runs for one or two wickets. There the way Soumya attacked and how Mahmudullah batted, it was exceptional.
It is not a conscious decision but when I see that someone can add value to the team, then I am not looking at how many matches he has played. I only see the future. Before the Pakistan series, we asked for all the left-arm pace bowlers from across the country to bowl to us because they had three left-arm bowlers in their attack.
I think to some extent. I was talking to the boys during the West Indies series and now, I can see the change in mentality. When you put a challenge like asking them to do things, whether we will do this or that after winning the toss, they used to be little bit reluctant. Like, they would say this is the way we used to do and tell me about what happened in the past. Now it has changed. Whenever we tell them to do something, they say yep, we are doing it. There are certain things that even those who have been playing for a long time, are believing in now.
Every coaching opportunity is an experience. It gives you different challenges. I started coaching in UAE, Sri Lanka and then I went to Canada during the 2011 World Cup. I was a consultant. Then I went to New South Wales and Australia A.
As a coach you have to bring different attributes to the job. It gives you all-round satisfaction when things are working for you. In most of the places I worked, I suppose I can go back because I made a mark. That gives you a lot of confidence in what you are doing. I love this job because these players have so much talent and they respond to the challenges that we are putting up. And again, I learn a lot from the staff that I have. Lot of experience from different parts: Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, England. I make sure that I direct their knowledge in the right way. It is another experience. Knowing the sub-continent culture is also another challenge than what I was used to in New South Wales.
I don't see it struggling particularly in Bangladesh. If you see in the last 2-3 years, Test matches are finishing in four days. So it means exciting cricket. More results are coming up. I don't think Test cricket is struggling. People's lifestyles are changing, so that's the only thing.
It is not fair for people to tell us to prove ourselves by winning overseas. Tell me which team is consistently winning overseas?
Maybe South Africa. So it is not fair to say OK, now Bangladesh you have to prove. It is not proving anything. We have to prove to ourselves we are good enough to compete against any team given any conditions. That's our challenge, and for the players to enhance their skills in different conditions. It will take time because we don't get exposed to certain conditions.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84