Rabbi working hard on his variations

Expectations rose significantly among the Bangladesh pacemen when legendary West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh joined the Tigers as the pace bowling coach. Some of the young seamers were barely able to conceal their excitement as they were eagerly waiting to learn the finer details of fast bowling from Walsh. Among them was pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi, who informed that there have been a few improvements in his bowling since Walsh's arrival. He said he learned to bowl swinging deliveries recently and at the same time, he is working on other variations, including looking to bowl consistently in one particular area. “He (Walsh) is working on spot bowling. And after the conditioning camp, we will start bowling in full rhythm. Obviously he is a great cricketer and we are getting benefit, both mentally and technically from his experiences. We, the players, have a very good friendly relationship with him, which helps us. The main thing which he does is boost our confidence,” Rabbi told the media in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday. “And being a professional player, we all know what to do as coaches encourage you. We are learning a lot from his experiences. Although the seniors don't need to gain confidence, juniors like us get confidence from him.

“As far as the technical aspect is concerned, I think my balance has improved a lot. Earlier, I couldn’t swing the ball but now I am able to do so. Whatever I know at the moment, I am trying to sharpen those things. And that's my aim at the moment. It's important to bowl consistently in one particular area and I am trying to maintain that,” he said.

The cricketer from Barisal, who made his Test match debut last year against England in Chittagong, has so far played five five-dayers, picking up seven wickets. He informed that he could have done better since making his Test bow for Bangladesh. However, he added that he is not taking extra pressure upon himself. Rather, he is looking to work on his weaknesses.

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Kamrul also showed his ability with the bat against India where he faced 70 deliveries to remain unbeaten on three runs, which impressed head coach Chandika Hathurusingha a lot. He said he always enjoys batting whenever he goes out to bat. “When I started playing cricket, I used to bat pretty well. But over time, I hardly get the opportunity. Most of the times I used to bat lower down the order. Whenever I go out to bat, I feel very confident. And now, the team also know that I can bat and the coaches also have faith over my batting, that I can bat as the nightwatchman,” he said. “Whenever I bat at the nets, coach gives me short balls to face. Coach also tells me how to leave the balls and play with the straight bat,” he added.