Sylhet Thunder coach Herschelle Gibbs said their local players don’t understand English properly, which is creating difficulties while coaching them in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20.
The Thunder have won just once in eight attempts and are sitting at the bottom in the seven-team points table, having already been ruled of the race for a playoff berth.
Sylhet have 12 Bangladeshis in their squad, among whom, five have played Test matches for the Tigers.
“About local players, a lot of them don’t understand English. So it’s difficult for me to make points all the time. It’s a frustrating thing. When I talk with them I can see that they are listening but they are not really syncing in,” ex-South African opening batsman Gibbs said to the media during training at Sylhet District Stadium Wednesday.
The local batsmen of @SylhetThunder are not being able to do justice to their talents in the Bangabandhu @BCBtigers Bangladesh Premier League due to a lack of opportunities, claimed their wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun.https://t.co/1OdRTIHfD0#BCBTIGERS #BCB #TIGERS #BBPL
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 24, 2019
“I think the understanding of the game needs to be improved. And another thing is, they are very temperamental. I mean it’s difficult for me to explain to them because they don’t understand it properly. I will give you an example. The other day Rubel Mia was opening the batting and he was on 14 off 28 deliveries. I walked on to the field during time-out and I said to him, ‘What is happening, you got 14 off 28 balls?’ And in reply he just shook his head! It’s not his fault solely but this is the reality.
“That’s a primary example of not understanding the situation. That is the difficulty. It’s the year of 2020. If a batsman can’t understand that after scoring 14 off 28 balls he must keep going then it’s tough. Probably I came here with too much expectation regarding mental aspects of the game from local players. I can try and speak to them. But if they can’t understand what I am saying then I can’t help them. That’s been the issue."
Former Protea batsman Neil McKenzie also faced difficulties while working as the batting coach of the Bangladesh team, Gibbs said light-heartedly.
“Language barrier is an issue. I would love to be able to speak to players like this, like I am speaking to you now, and hope they can understand every word. Unfortunately that’s not the case and it’s frustrating. I am not sure how they understand McKenzie when he is coaching to them (smiles). He is from South Africa and I am also from there. He (McKenzie) is also trying to improve them. I know McKenzie is a good coach and the players will learn a lot from him. But I don’t know how much players are actually getting from him. Maybe I have to, you know, learn a new language before I come here next year (smiles),” Gibbs concluded.
