Leaving on a high

Dav Whatmore has been Bangladesh's most successful coach and the The Daily Star terms his departure from the post as a peaceful one, unlike the "sorry and painful departures of Indian Mohinder Amarnath, West Indies great Gordon Greenidge, South African Eddie Barlow, Australian Trevor Chappell and Pakistani Mohsin Kamal." The Dhaka daily's Bishwajit Roy interviews Whatmore on plans, hopes and frustrations while coaching the Bangladesh side.

DSS: We have seen some talented cricketers fade away from the spotlight during your tenure like Alok Kapali, Al Shahriar, Tushar Imran. It's true that they have failed sometime but don't you think that you have not motivated them enough to comeback. It seemed that you just let them go.

DW: (laughs) I am not happy with anybody who has talent and doesn't make it. But I do take some responsibility. But you're being harsh as you're saying that it's my fault. I never take credit when players do well. Therefore if a player doesn't do well, I don't think its fair to say that the coach is at fault. I take responsibility but at the end of the day, the player should take some of the responsibilities. Alok is still rated highly and potentially extremely good. If you see him bat in the nets, you'd pick him first but unfortunately that didn't translate into runs. Even though he has so much ability, he must understand what batting is all about.

DSS: Do you think not finding a permanent opening combination is a big failure?

DW: Yeah, it is the same now. We have another boy (Shahriar Nafees) out of form as well. Opening hasn't been the best part of our batting line-up. It would have been nice to have a good opening pair as it is important to have a good start if you're batting first or second.