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Australia has given Bangladesh a stark reminder of the challenges ahead of the World Cup
The Bangladesh women’s team entered their home series against Australia with high spirits, buoyed by their recent victory over India. They were eager to challenge the visitors and replicate their success. However, Australia quickly brought them back to reality by sweeping both the ODIs and T20Is, showcasing their dominance.
The Bangladesh team’s inability to compete against Australia in any match served as a warning sign for the home team, especially with the forthcoming T20 World Cup set to be hosted by Bangladesh. Hashan Tillakaratne, the head coach, expressed concerns about the team’s lack of competitiveness.
“It’s been disappointing,” Tillakaratne told reporters after the series-concluding T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday. “Losing to the top side in the world is one thing, but how we played and the lack of challenge we posed to them is what’s really disappointing.”
“I thought our batters had a reasonable series against South Africa. When you play against a top side like Australia, you’re expected to draw on your game experience, and they challenge you in ways that others might not. There are no excuses, but it was our first bilateral series against Australia. However, the way we applied ourselves, I don’t think that’s excusable.”
Tillakaratne emphasized the need to go back to the drawing board to analyze their mistakes. He also highlighted that fear of failure had a significant impact on their performance.
“We need to return to the drawing board, analyze our mistakes, and come back stronger. No one has performed particularly well against Australia. Apart from one or two standout performances, everyone has struggled.”
“The fear factor and fear of failure were present because it was our first bilateral series against Australia. This is something I haven’t seen when we played against India, South Africa, and Pakistan. Players were reluctant to express themselves and seemed scared, which is where we faltered against Australia,” he said.
“We want to have an honest chat with the girls first, debrief, and understand what went wrong. There’s no point in chopping and changing because we’ve invested a lot in these girls. I’m confident that with time, they will bounce back,” he said.
“Playing against them is a big positive for us. We’ve seen how they raise the bar, and it gives us a clear picture of the areas we need to improve to challenge and compete against top sides,” he said.
“As part of the coaching staff, I believe the girls need to show considerable improvement. Despite feeling down and disappointed, we have to bounce back,” he concluded, highlighting the importance of the upcoming home series against India, followed by the T20 Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
While Bangladesh faced a reality check, Australian skipper Alyssa Healy appeared satisfied as her team dominated the series in both ODIs and T20Is. The tourists seemed to have covered all bases in terms of providing opportunities and building momentum ahead of the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in September-October this year.
“Yeah, from Australia’s perspective, I think we got everything we could have hoped for on this trip. We gave opportunities when needed, and the results went our way,” Healy told reporters after their successful tour.
“From the big picture perspective and considering what we’re building towards, we got everything we could have hoped for from this series. There were more positives than negatives, and the way the group supported each other was particularly important. So, hopefully, it’s going to be an exciting 12 months for this group,” she said.
