Khulna Titans head coach and Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene is currently in Dhaka for strategic planning, ahead of the players’ draft of the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League T20. The draft is scheduled to be held in Dhaka on Sunday. He shared some valuable opinions with the media Thursday, including some of his upcoming challenges with the Titans this season. Here are the excerpts:
On the players’ draft
We have retained four players and directly signed two overseas players so far. We then have to go into the draft and take other players or options that we may have. At the draft we cannot plan much, but we can plan how we want to go about it. Rules have changed this year with four overseas players allowed in the starting 11. So when we retained the players, we realised how important the local players are, as there will be seven local players in the 11. So we retained three local players and hopefully we can sign some more good local players from the draft.
On the BPL
The tournament is a challenge every year. Last year I thought we played really good cricket by finishing at the top of the table but just couldn’t get through the knockout stages. But that was one game and that’s very tough when someone like [Chris] Gayle plays a knock like that. But I thought with the young team we had, the way we have invested, we were very good. So we’ll try and build on that this year and we are looking at those young options. Guys like [Nazmul Hossain] Shanto and Ariful [Haque] who are now being consistent in the Bangladesh setup are on our radar. I just heard (Ariful) has just been picked for the Test squad which is great news for us. Mahmudullah is going to captain the Test team so the players that we kept as our core players are set to be important players, in the future. As per the plan, we have been good and hopefully we can build on that in the draft and get a stronger squad and compete.
Expectations on upcoming BPL’s quality
I think BPL has come a long way and it has been consistent. Last BPL was very competitive and every year it has improved. It is always going to be better I guess, especially if the best players come to play.
On working with a limited budget
I think every franchise tournament is different. The IPL is a different setup where you have an equal salary cap and you have an equal opportunity to get the best players in the world via the draft. The BPL is different because you have to work with available players and not with all players. So we have to try to get the best from them and the budget is also different. Khulna’s budget is different to Dhaka [Dynamites], Chittagong [Vikings], Comilla [Victorians] or Rangpur [Riders]. We work within our limitations but we want to be the best and compete. Last year we managed to get some exciting talent like Jofra Archer. No one knew much about him and we picked him. Like that, we will keep looking for similar diamonds in the rough and if we can introduce them into a system and get the best out of them, that will be brilliant.
On the difference between IPL and BPL
The BPL is not a low budget tournament. It might be third biggest, if not the second, budget wise, in world cricket. The players are getting paid really well. They get paid more than the players in the Big Bash, CPL or T20 Blast. There is not a big gap in quality between the two tournaments because there are quite a few overseas players that play in both the IPL and the BPL. But I think cricket-wise both tournaments are very competitive and the intensity is pretty much the same. As we saw last year it was a very good tournament with some outstanding performances.
On Bangladesh’s chances in World Cup
They have to work hard. They had come close in Australia and if they have to challenge themselves they have to improve. I don’t think any team, even the qualifying teams, goes into the World Cup thinking they cannot win the World Cup. If that was the case, they would not be there. The must-win attitude has to be there. I won’t say Bangladesh can win but every team should have the mindset of winning the World Cup (when) they go to a competition.
Raising Bangladesh’s T20 standard through BPL
You need to give BPL another three four years to come to a level where it will be making Bangladesh a strong T20 side. You see lot of younger cricketers developing in the last three years and coming through the setup. The guys who are in the High Performance teams have improved. That is because of the competitive nature of the tournament and the BPL has offered that. With the international cricketers coming in, they are bringing the experience the exposure of sharing the same dressing room. I think Bangladesh is competitive when it comes to T20 cricket in the world. In the last World T20 they were very close to knocking India out of the tournament.
On Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry
For me Sri Lanka are always going to be my number one team. I played for them, so I am always going to look out for them and want them to do well. Being a coach now, I try to watch the other teams a lot more because I have to evaluate players and how they perform. Mainly because I am part of franchise cricket and I need to be aware if quality is out there. Bangladesh have improved a lot and you can see a good budding cricket rivalry between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The results have been very close in recent times and the cricket has been exciting. So that is definitely something I have enjoyed so far.
On Mashrafe bin Mortaza
Well he has done a good job so far. He has been very good. As long as he can keep himself fit and be part of the team. His contribution is very important along with his experience of being around for a long time. With his captaincy he has definitely done
