The Bangladesh national cricket camp resumed yesterday after a week-long vacation for Eid ul-Fitr. The resumption, however, didn’t involve any drills with bat or ball and was limited to a closed door class in the conference room of the Sahara-BCB Academy.
This ‘theoretical class’ was taken by national team’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and other staffs of the national team, and was attended not only by the current national cricketers but also by few
of the discarded ones including top order batsman Shahriar Nafees, pacer Shahadat Hossain and some others.
Suspended national cricketer Shakib al Hasan, who is currently serving a six month suspension from all forms of cricket due to indiscipline, was also a part of the class. The talismanic all-rounder was also barred from training with the national cricketers for the same offense. However, head coach Hathurusingha designed a separate training plan for Shakib after being instructed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cricket operations. According to the sources close to the national team, few of the issues discussed in the meeting include discipline, fixing mistakes and handling pressure at a crucial time of a game.
Yesterday’s class will be followed by the cricketers attending two sessions, today and tomorrow, of Australian sports psychiatrist Dr Phil Jauncey. Phil is regarded as Australia’s foremost Performance Enhancing Psychologist who has played vital roles in the success of teams including the Brisbane Lions (AFL), Brisbane Broncos (NRL), Australia’s Test Cricket Team, Australia’s Olympic Team and many others.
This, however, has raised eyebrows of many in the cricketing arena. In the wake of the Tigers’ disastrous performance in the ICC World Twenty20 in April this year, BCB hired Ali Khan, a Canadian sports psychologist of Bangladesh-origin to counsel the cricketers of the national cricket team. Ali’s services cost BCB a good amount of money and thankfully the cricketers were also happy with Ali’s counseling. It was said that his theories would have a long-term effect on the cricketers, but as those two psychologists might have different approaches of counseling and theories, it was no wonder that questions were raised whether sessions from two different psychiatrists within a span of four months will actually be beneficial or puzzling for the cricketers who are desperate to turn things around with some positive results this year.
Besides the sessions with Dr Phil, the cricketers will also spend some time in the field as a part of their final preparation before they leave for the West Indies on August 10. Bangladesh, in their 38-day tour of the Caribbean, will play two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 game against the hosts.
