Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said his team`s philosophy of not fearing failure has been key to their progress into the World Cup quarter-finals.
Bangladesh conclude their Pool A campaign in Hamilton on Friday against table-toppers New Zealand who have also qualified for the last-eight with five wins in as many matches.
Hathurusingha, a former Sri Lanka opener, said Bangladesh`s turn around in fortunes, highlighted by their dramatic 15-run win over England in Adelaide on Monday, was due to a fearless approach.
“We are not afraid to fail,” he said. “That`s the key phrase we spoke about throughout this World Cup — if we were paralysed by failures, then we were not pushing ourselves.
“That (approach) allowed us the freedom to do things and believe me that was the key, not only for the England game but when Scotland put up 300 runs, we were still backing ourselves to do things,” said Hathurusingha.
Bangladesh chased down a stiff target of 319 to beat Scotland in Nelson.
“I think just qualifying for the quarter-finals is a big thing,” said the coach.
“At the start we were against two host countries as well as Sri Lanka and England and it was a huge task for us to qualify but the belief was there and we were prepared to beat one of the big teams to get here.”
Intermittent rain in Hamilton hampered Bangladesh`s practice on Thursday but Hathurusingha said his team were still preparing hard for Friday`s game.
“Playing for your country and playing the World Cup is enough for them to get up early this morning,” said Hathurusingha when asked about their motivation.
“If you see how they prepared today and how hard they practiced, it`s amazing and they never seem to get tired of training hard to be prepared for a game.
“The confidence is high because we have qualified for the next round, that was one of the first goals that we had, the guys were really confident throughout but this gives us a little more freedom to do things.”
Hathurusingha admitted New Zealand will be a big challenge for his team.
“New Zealand are one of the form teams in the competition, especially because they have beaten strong teams like Australia and Sri Lanka and they are playing in their own backyard and have all the bases covered. It`s a huge task for us to compete against them,” said Hathurusingha.
“We know their strengths. They have got a very good bowling attack so if we get a good start that will be the key for us.”
Hathurusingha said his team will try to get the key wicket of New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum early.
“It`s difficult (to get McCullum) because he is also playing without fear but again we are playing to our strengths and we have plans and if we execute the plans we have, it will be key to win the game.
“He is their main player and we need to get him out early. We always play differently and don`t stick to the same plans against different oppositions. We know we have to play at our best to beat them.”
