As a cricket nation, before the arrival of Chandika Hathurusingha in 2014, Bangladesh were not highly regarded. Neither their style of play nor the results were satisfactory enough until Hathurusingha arrived and changed the scenario. Within a couple of months, the effect of Hathurusingha could be seen.
Hathurusingha transformed Bangladesh into a fearless unit that played an attacking brand of cricket and to the astonishment of everyone, he buried the idea of relying on spinners too much and brought the Bangladeshi pace bowlers into the scene, who shone outstandingly under the supervision of Hathurusingha and his bowling coach Heath Streak.
The purple patch in ODIs
Bangladesh had played 80 games before Hathurusingha was appointed with a win/loss ratio of 0.4 - if you cut the minnows out of the equation and consider the top eight nations alone then the numbers suggest, 27 wins in 191 games, a win/loss ratio of 0.16.
But as soon as Hathurusingha arrived, Bangladesh won 25 of the 52 ODIs and lost just 23 with a win/loss ratio of 1.086.
During the Cricket World Cup in Australia in 2015 - Bangladesh stunned England and booked a place in the quarterfinals, beating India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Africa in the ODI series at home, giving England a run for their money in the ODI series in 2016 and featuring in the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.
In the 50-over format, Bangladesh became a dangerous team that could topple any best side in the world courtesy of their bold and positive approach.
Brilliant display in Test cricket
Meanwhile, in Test cricket, a different wind was blowing under Hathurusinga.
Before Hathrusingha became the head coach - Bangladesh had won just 4 Test matches out of 83 win a win/loss ratio of 0.058, whereas, since May 2014, they had won 6 and drawn 4 out of 21 Test matches with a win/loss ratio of 0.545 before the departure of Chandika.
Bangladesh beat England and Australia at home in 2016 and 2017 respectively and drew the Test series in Sri Lanka in 2017.
The improvement of individual players
Tamim Iqbal was one of the batters who improved under Hathurusingha. In 2014, Tamim was digesting heavy criticism from critics and fans, but Hathursusingha let Tamim understand the importance of spending time at the crease and how to manage the innings - from 2015 to 2017, batting-average of Tamim rose from a mere 26 to 46.38, 45.22 and 64.60 respectively in the ODIs. Whereas in Test cricket, it improved above 50 from 37.29 (2014) in 2015 and 2016.
Mushfiqur Rahim had scored 2511 Test runs in 43 Test matches at an average of 33.48 before April 2014. Under Hathurusingha, Maushfiq emerged as a solid Test batsman, averaging 40.69 in 20 Tests with three hundred. Even in ODIs, his performance improved - Mushfiq was averaging 44.90 in 50 ODIs with three centuries, including one in South Africa where no Bangladesh batsman had scored a hundred before.
Mahmudullah Riyad was another player who bloomed immensely under Hathurusingha.
In an interview, he said, "I think Hathurusingha played a key role for my development. I think his guidance helps me to be a middle-order batsman."
"I think all the cricketers of our team have improved their batting as Hathurusingha has given us freedom to bat in the matches. Hathurusingha suggested me to bat in number four, thus my batting has been changed. When I started my career I thought I could bat well in top-order. But now I think I do perform well in middle-order and Hathurusingh helped me for my confidence. Hathurusingh has given freedom all of us to bat in any situation which helps us very much."
From a number 7 all-rounder, Riyad transformed into a top-order batter and played some of the most memorable knocks during the Cricket World Cup in 2015 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017.
The emergence of young guns
No one knew about Mustafizur Rahman nor did anyone care about Soumya Sarkar, Liton Kumar Das, or Mehidy Hasan Miraz because the Bangladeshi think tank used to rely heavily on players who had already passed their best. But Hathrusingha let everyone realize how important the power of youth can be.
Mustafizur Rahman came to the scene and took the world by storm with his cutters. The flamboyance of Soumya and the composure of Liton gave Bangladesh a much-needed boost and Miraz became the X-factor.
Meanwhile, the four-pronged pace attack of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, and Al-Amin Hossain rejuvenated the bowling attack that was never seen in Bangladesh cricket.
Bangladesh should benefit from the return of Hathurusingha
Despite all the hard work, Hathurusingha was never the blue-eyed boy of the Bangladeshi critics. His bold and straightforward nature was criticized, whereas his attitude as a hard taskmaster was disliked by many on the team.
But as most critics forget, teams like Bangladesh always need a coach who is bold, courageous, innovative, bears a sound analytical mindset, and cares very much about discipline and professionalism.
His reappointment as the head coach has created a mixed reaction - but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) seem to be looking ahead rather than satisfying the souls of some of the whimsical senior characters on the side.
BCB wishes to bring back the discipline in the team and build a force for the future, for which Hathurusingha is the best choice, and who has the expert eyes to recognize talents and nurture them properly.
Hathurusingha has the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) Level 3 Coaching Status, which is among the most advanced coaching qualifications in the world alongside Level II and Level III qualifications with Cricket Australia (CA). Again, his coaching experience with New South Wales gives him the edge as one of the finest cricket brains in the world at the moment.
Bangladesh Cricket should only benefit from the return of Hathurusingha and for this, BCB must give him the full freedom he needs.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
