Hathurusinghe deflects Shakib vs Tamim talk, wants focus to be on making final four

These days, a public appearance by a member of Bangladesh's team management inevitably means a flurry of questions about the Shakib Al Hasan-Tamim Iqbal issue.

It was no different for Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe ahead of the team's first World Cup game, against Afghanistan in Dharamsala. Hathurusinghe, though, deftly deflected most of these questions, saying it was his job to keep the pressure off his team.

When asked whether Bangladesh would be better off without Tamim facing up to Fazalhaq Farooqi, Hathurusinghe called it a "weird question". When asked about Shakib's scathing attack on Tamim, Hathurusinghe just smiled.

Hathurusinghe himself had caused a stir last month when he said that people should "wake up" if they were dreaming about Bangladesh winning the World Cup. Speaking to Dhaka-based newspaper Prothom Alo, Hathurusinghe had said: "For whatever reason, our captain [Shakib] was appointed five weeks ago. I came six months ago. This is not ideal [so close to a World Cup]. But it doesn't mean Bangladesh can't do anything good in the World Cup...

"Bangladesh's biggest achievement is three wins in a campaign. So if someone is dreaming that we will win the World Cup, I will tell them to 'wake up from their sleep'. It is possible to do something better than before. We are keeping our goal big - to reach the semi-finals."

Later, when these comments were pointed out to Tamim during the New Zealand series, he expressed surprise, saying, "I definitely think we should dream. You won't achieve it if you don't dream. Our Under-19 team never went past the quarter-finals but because they dreamt big, they became champions [at the 2020 World Cup]. This is our seventh World Cup, so when are we going to have a dream?"

The question popped up again in Dharamsala, and Hathurusinghe responded: "My job is to take the pressure off from the players. People can dream, can aim. They can have goals. We are trying to have a good World Cup, win matches. Our aim is to get into the semi-final. It can be a dream.

"We all want to win the World Cup. Since you asked me our realistic goal, if we can win four or five matches we can get into the semi-finals. This is our first target. We have a good enough team to do this. We have to reach the semi-finals stage."

On the actual cricket front, foremost among the big questions is who will step into Tamim's shoes at the top of the order? Will it be young Tanzid Hasan or will Mehidy Hasan Miraz remain their preferred opening option, particularly as coach and captain believe Mehidy is effective against offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who is likely to take the new ball alongside Farooqi? The surface, too, will need to be taken into account, with talk of the Dharamsala pitch perhaps not aiding the spin trio of Mujeeb, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who have often dominated Bangladesh across formats.

"We have two options [to take Tamim's spot]. We will be in a better place to make that decision tomorrow morning," the coach said. "We will see if we bat first or second, and then take a decision. Wicket looks really good for one-day cricket. It has a nice covering of grass. I think it will be a really good sporting wicket. We are expecting high scoring in this ground. We will decide the combination tomorrow morning."

Often, a big win has papered over many cracks for Bangladesh. This World Cup opener, against Afghanistan, is a game which Bangladesh desperately need to win, and for more than just the two points.