• 2 days ago
Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons emphasised that his side is all geared up to face off in a do-or-die Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand on February 24. He highlighted how his side has had good training sessions in build up to the crucial Group A clash.
Transcript
00:00Good afternoon. We are ready to get the press conference underway. We have the Bangladeshi
00:22head coach, Mr. Phil Simons with us. If you have any questions, please raise your hand
00:25and we can start straight away.
00:32Coach, first of all, welcome to Rawalpindi.
00:37What do you say about the pressure match tomorrow because New Zealand is playing well in tri-series
00:44and against Pakistan. What do you say about that?
00:48Well, all the games in this tournament are pressure games. It's the top eight in the
00:53world and you expect every game to be hard. Yes, they have been playing well, but tomorrow
00:59is a new day. So, we will try and make sure that they don't play as well as they have
01:03been playing.
01:14Coach, what about Mahmudullah's latest condition? Is he available in tomorrow's match?
01:19Well, we are going to find out that today. He has to do a fitness test today and then
01:24we will know after practice today whether he is fit enough for selection.
01:34There has been a lot of similarities between those two teams. They played a lot bilaterally.
01:43How do you see New Zealand's strength so far?
01:49Say again? Sorry, I didn't get that.
01:51Bangladesh and New Zealand play more frequently in bilateral series. Do you think that will
01:56play into Bangladesh's, since they know each other very well?
02:02We play a lot against a few different teams, but when you come to a tournament, some teams
02:08are different in tournament cricket than in a series. So, you can't really match it
02:13up like that. So, you have to take what they are going into the tournament with now and
02:19then look at that, not look at the past series.
02:24Coach, after losing the first game, this is a Dua Daikon match for you guys. So, how do
02:31you think, like you guys came here one day ago and then started just 12 hours after landing
02:40here, you guys just go straight to the field and had a practice session and today is also
02:46a practice session for you guys. So, how do you think that the preparation will be enough
02:51for you guys to bounce back in the tournament?
02:54Well, it has to be enough. That's what the tournament gives us and that's what we are
02:59using. Yesterday was a good practice, that ICC ground is really good facility. So, we
03:07had a good session and we are going to have a sharp session here today and we will be
03:11ready for tomorrow.
03:13One more question is, do you think that after losing the first game in Dubai, the Rahul
03:19Pindi wicket, in this wicket Bangladesh won two tests as well in the last year and Peshar
03:25played a very good role there. So, you guys thinking of changing in the pace and also
03:30in the score?
03:32Well, we are thinking a lot of different things. The first thing is, as we said before, we
03:37have to find out if Riyad is fit and then we can know how to balance out the team again
03:43after that. So, when practice is finished today, we will know a little bit more. We
03:48will have a look at the wicket and everything like that. So, final decisions will be made
03:52later this evening.
03:54Coach, Bangladesh had a very good memories here in Rahul Pindi in six months time. Do
04:00you think it will play any part, any positive part on this team?
04:04I hope it does because to come into Pakistan and beat Pakistan is not an easy thing and
04:11it gave them a lot of confidence. So, I hope it has a significant bearing on how they think
04:17about this ground.
04:18And what type of score do you think will be the prime factor of this match?
04:24This is a big scoring ground and we have seen the score in Lahore yesterday. So, you are
04:33looking at big scores here. You are looking at 300 plus here.
04:36Do you still have the belief on your batsmen? They do have that ability to score 300 plus,
04:43350 plus, when it comes to the situation like chasing 350. Do you think they can do
04:50that?
04:51Yeah, well, in the last five matches, we have gone to 300 a couple of times. So, we have
04:57the ability to do it. In the last game, we did not start well and we got to 200. So,
05:03as long as we start well, we can get there.
05:07Welcome to Islamabad. My question is that if we see the past records, it is very difficult
05:14to look at Bangladesh defeating New Zealand because it is totally of one-sided.
05:20But this tournament is not on records. This tournament is about tomorrow. We play them
05:26tomorrow. We don't play them on what's past. So, we take tomorrow and we play tomorrow
05:31and we see what happens then.
05:34You talked about that in the last five matches, Bangladesh scored 300 plus scores. Still,
05:41we didn't win any matches. What's the problem?
05:46No, in the matches, the other team batted better than us. So, we scored 300 but they
05:51scored 300 plus. So, that's how the game is. You have to restrict them also. So, we didn't
05:56bowl well enough in those games.
05:58So, what should we do to be the better side?
06:02Well, as I said, in the first couple of games, in the first game, overs 1-10 we lost in batting
06:10and overs 1-10 we lost in bowling. So, those are the areas that we have to make sure that
06:15tomorrow we win them and then we see what happens from there.
06:20Coach, you have said that we should bat well. Did you think that our top order batting right
06:32now, like you said that we crossed 300 runs three times in the last five matches but in
06:38every time that lower order batsmen actually took us to the 300 mark. But what about the
06:46top order batsmen? Are you a little bit concerned about their form?
06:49I'm not concerned about their form. I just think that we need to assess and put together
06:55our batting in the first 10 overs a little bit better than we've done. And as you said,
07:01the middle order and the lower order have done really well. So, it's up to us as top
07:06order batsmen to put things together in the first 10 overs, 15 overs especially.
07:16Coach, today's match is undergoing. If Pakistan lost the match, tomorrow's match is much
07:22important. Is it a pressure as well because after that you have to run another match against
07:30Pakistan? Have you considered on your run rate as well because if the teams are equal
07:38then run rate will count?
07:40It may count but again we have to put in front priorities to win the game. When we're
07:47in a position to win the game then you can think about run rate. But if we win two games
07:53more than likely you're in there. So, we have to win the game first.
08:00Thank you, gents.

Recommended