Bangladesh short-term consultant Gary Kirsten hinted that coaches for specific formats might be introduced in the near future for the Asian nation. Kirsten had agreed to a short-term consultancy role with Bangladesh, during which he’ll assist the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in finding a new head coach as well as prepare a plan of action by completing an internal audit.
After arriving in the country on Sunday for a three-day visit, Kirsten spent time in Dhaka, where he attended a series of meetings with officials and players to prepare an internal audit required in order to recommend the next head coach of Bangladesh, a post that has remained vacant since the unexpected departure of Chandika Hathurusingha.
Kirsten spoke individually with Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman while also having sessions with national trainer Mario Villavarayan and physio Thihan Chandramohan.
He called upon two national selectors Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar while the biggest surprise came through the arrival of local coach Mohammad Salahuddin, who has mentored some leading Bangladesh players. He concluded the day after meeting BCB president Nazmul Hasan at his own office in the evening.
“We have spoken about that [format-specific coaches] but we haven’t finalised that yet,” Kirsten told reporters on Tuesday. “I think that is where modern cricket is going. The key is what’s for the best interest of the team, bearing in mind that we are a year away from the World Cup,” he said.
“So that’s the focus, to make sure the best coaches are available to prepare the team for the World Cup,” he added.
The former South African opener said that he was quite impressed with the inputs that he received during his different sessions with different individuals related to Bangladesh cricket.
“I’ve had an opportunity to meet with a lot of people which has been great. I think that was the intention, just to come in and have a look inside Bangladesh cricket. I am very excited by what I have heard. People have been very open about the progress and where they want to go,” Kirsten noted.
“It is my task to help the board find the best coaches available for the team and in some capacity to kind of be involved in the team through to the World Cup. That’s what it’s about.”
Kirsten added that he is keen to recommend someone who can take the team forward by keeping the balance intact. “That’s a tough question [on what kind of coach suits them], but really for me it is to understand what has worked really well previously.
“I know Chandika has done a great job with the team and I just wanted to get to understand what that was about and what made the team do well in that time. And I think I’ve got some good insights into that. So my task is really to find someone who can help the team quickly as well because it has been a long time now. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we’ll have someone in place to take the team forward,” he added.
“Every team’s a different challenge, but I think this team has great potential. It has had success against big teams recently. It has a good group of senior players with some talented young players coming through. So I think trying to create some stability within the group and making sure the coaching structures are in place, I have no doubt that this team can compete at the highest levels, and I think there is every intention to set some lofty goals in terms of what they want to do over the next 18 months or so.”
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