Where does Bangladesh go from here?
Very frustrating. We really targeted this sort of game is two points, and I know that Sri Lanka would have fought very hard and no pushovers at all. But we do see it as one point lost, and that's disappointing, but realistically, what can we do about it? Absolutely nothing. And now all we can do is win our games coming up, one at a time and just think of that, which is the next game West Indies and try and win that, and then win the next one after that. That’s all we can do. It's out of our control, the way the weather is.
What about Shakib’s situation now?
He picked up a little injury, as you all saw in that game against England. He fought on and battled on, and played extremely well with an injury. We’re very, very optimistic that the treatment that he’ll get this week and the way that he can recover well; we’re very optimistic that he can play in that next game against West Indies.
Would you like to see we reserve days built into the schedule?
I would. I think when you look, if you know the English weather, sadly, we’re going to get a lot of rain. We never know when the rain’s going to come. People from all over the world keep asking me whether it’s going to rain. But at the moment, we’re seeing some problems. We put men on the moon (laughing) so why can’t we have a reserve day, when actually this tournament is a long tournament.
How do your boys plan to combat West Indies?
Well, the answer’s yes, definitely. We’ve all seen what they have done, but not just the West Indies. There’s a lot of the other teams, as well. England have shown that sort of potency or attack method in this World Cup so far. We’ve got certain ways of dealing with that. I’m happy with the way we play the white ball, particularly, when it’s short. We’ve played against the West Indies bowlers, recently, as well, out in Ireland. Certainly Oshane Thomas, as well, when we played against him in Bangladesh just before Christmas. So we are well aware of what they have got and we know what's coming and we've got some plans to try and deal with that.
What is the biggest challenge against West Indies?
One of their most explosive players is Andre Russell. He’s is a formidable opponent. He’s one of the best hitters in the game. He can take a game away from you, but they have others, like all these international teams.
Most teams are using wrist spinners in the middle overs, but you have two finger spinners. Your take.
If we had a very good wrist spinner, he would be here. But we don’t pick people just for the sake of it. I’d rather go into games with top-quality bowlers than maybe somebody who is substandard. Some of the teams have not always been playing a wrist spinner. The had one — the one in New Zealand is a good example of that. You play your best 11.
Will toss play a part as we go on?
Without giving away maybe some of the advantages I bring to Bangladesh, knowing the conditions and the country very well for cricket, but some of the boundaries are a bit bigger than expected. That’s something to do with the boundary boards not moving. These are electrical boundary boards, and it takes a lot of work to move them around for the various pitches. So that’s the reason you you’re seeing bigger outfields, bigger hits for 6, and maybe less 4s because there’s more 2s and 3s run. That’s one of the reasons. The weather plays its part, as well. As far as the toss, I don’t think it will have a great deal of effects.
— Courtesy © ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018