After making an on and off start to their T20 World Cup campaign, Bangladesh finally got on to a good run of form to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament. However, their limitations were only masked by the brilliance of Shakib Al Hasan in the qualifying round which could not be hidden in the main stage against top sides.
Bangladesh have lost all their Super 12 games and now are on the brink of elimination from the tournament, but their coach Russell Domingo is choosing to see the bright side of it and said that Bangladesh were ahead in most part of their games against Sri Lanka and West Indies before losing the plot.
He said that the team needs to see positives out of the close games they played and only that will enable them to find out the mistakes they committed at what he called “crucial stages” of the games.
"We have played against past champions Sri Lanka, England and West Indies. They are tough sides. In two of those games, we were on top for almost 80-90% of those games. We have to look at the positives. We had Sri Lanka and West Indies under pressure. We didn't finish well with the bat against West Indies. We didn't finish well with the ball against Sri Lanka.
"We have to focus on the positive aspects, and then limit the mistakes. We made mistakes in crucial stages."
Domingo also tried to change the outlook of the Bangladesh side and said that the players must not see every game and opportunity with the “obsession” of winning. He lamented that focusing more on results and obsessing about winning the games doesn’t allow players mental space to follow the right “process” needed to produce the results they are after. He said that players need to disconnect from the result and focus on what they need to execute on the field in order to make a difference.
"We know there's an obsession with winning and disappointment when you don't win. Our focus is the process and how we are going to achieve that win," Domingo said on the eve of the South Africa game. "Everybody is trying to win every single game but when you are focused only on that, you lose track of the things you need to do to get that win. I think we have to focus on our skills and processes in tomorrow's game. If we do that, hopefully, the result goes our way,” Domingo added.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play South Africa in their next game and another loss at the hands of Proteas will end their journey in the tournament. Bangladesh were never on the top of their game with the top order batsmen lacking form and not allowing bowlers cushioning of extra runs to put pressure on opposition batting lineups.