Stuart Law is not an unknown name in Bangladesh cricket. The former Australian cricketer was the head coach of Bangladesh four years ago for a duration of around nine months. But during this short time, he left his mark by guiding his charges to the 2012 Asia Cup final where they lost narrowly to Pakistan by just two runs. Before that though, the Tigers beat sub-continent powerhouses India and Sri Lanka.
Law was also the Bangladesh Under-19 technical advisor and under his stewardship, the junior Tigers romped to the last four before losing to the West Indies. The 48-year old is currently in Bangladesh for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 where he will perform his duty as the head coach of the Khulna Titans. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the former right-handed batsman for an exclusive interview where he shared his thoughts on the forthcoming BPL, the Titans' prospects, among other topics. Here is the second and final part of the interview:
Titans head coach Law (C) along with players and officials DHAKA TRIBUNE/Mainoor Islam ManikHow are Khulna Titans preparing ahead of the fourth edition of the BPL T20?We have been together for a week now. As I said the local boys will be the key. They are extremely happy to be in the team. They all want to perform. International players are starting to arrive now which is good. And the management - they did a magnificent effort, managing all the things and bringing all supports. From my experience so far, it’s been a pleasure to be a part of Khulna Titans and I want to respect the hard work that each and every team members are putting to get this Khulna Titans franchise off the ground. We are looking forward to repaying the faith of the owners. And we can start doing that by training hard and getting ourselves ready for the fourth of November.What will be the Titans' target in the competition?We are going to compete in every aspect, in every game. We are trying to instil a culture and discipline into our boys, and not just the players, but also the management. We are going to be calm. We are going to be cool. We want to play a brand of cricket which is attractive for our followers. But we are not going to disappear out of the contest. We will stand up and have a go for the title. That’s what we want to achieve from the tournament. If we win plenty of games that will be great, we want keep this for building a team for years to come. We want to start a culture now and try to build on it year after year. If we don’t win it this year, I reckon the next couple of years would be very close.
(R-L) Titans managing director Kazi Inam Ahmed, captain Mahmudullah, team advisor Habibul Bashar, coach Law, Kazi Nabil Ahmed MP and team director Kazi Anis Ahmed during the jersey unveiling programme. During the ceremony, Kazi Inam said they have dedicated the jersey to the late cricketers Manzaul Islam Ranna and Sajjad Setu. The jerseys will have Rana and Setu's names on the side-arm. The jersey number 96 was also retired in memory of Rana DHAKA TRIBUNE What are the expectations on the Titans, bearing in mind that the team have a new set of owners?Expectation obviously, we are not just a part of the make up. We are here to compete. A due process was taken to select our players. And we have got the players that we wanted. Those are good things. I made it very clear to the Bangladeshi players that they are the most important part of the squad. And the international players, they also have a very important part. They will have to help the young players to get through the tough times. We are trying to create a culture. A family-based culture. We all want to be together as long as we can. We want to enjoy our time together. We are going to work hard and have some fun as well.Many experts are of the opinion that T20s are not ideal for the game of cricket, given its batsman-friendly nature. Your thoughts?We have got to forget what the old schools are saying. We got to move on. The way cricket is being played these days, this is the future. We have to forget about what we did in the past. It was great times. We all enjoyed the way we played and the way we batted. But these players, these current players have brought a different brand of cricket. They are bigger, they are stronger. If you are going to ban the big bats then you may have to stop them to go to gym as well. Because they look stronger than we were. These things are irrelevant in modern-day sport. Current players are bigger, fitter, stronger than we were. And with that, the ball disappears over the fence quite regularly. Not everyone is using a big heavy bat. Virat Kohli, the best player in the world, uses a bat of 2.7 or 2.8 pounds and he hits the ball as far and as hard as anyone. Not necessarily how big the bat is, it's how you use it. And that's what attracts players to the game, the fact that you can do it one way or you can do in another way.
Law is looking towards the 2016 BPL with optimism COURTESYWhat is important in T20s? Individual brilliance or total team work?I always believe when you are playing a team game it has to be a team. Not necessarily in a ground, having a big name player in for four games, and he disappears for the tournament, I reckon that can destruct harmony of the team, I think we have selected pretty well. The players we selected are going to play for the majority of the tournament together. So that’s a pleasing thing to me. The only thing that can disrupt us will be injury. Let’s hope that nothing like that happens. It can come down to some games when one individual’s brilliance is needed. But it also comes about because of his team mates' hard work. It is a team game. I don’t want to pick one or two players expecting to win the tournament for us. You need 11 players out there every night to win the game.What sort of challenges do a coach faces in T20 cricket?You have to read up the situation very quickly. You just can’t sit back and let it ride. There is nothing much for a coach in the sidelines after a game starts. It will not effect much in the middle. Our work is done in the training pattern, in the team room, in the dressing room or in the meeting room. Once it is out there, the captains run the show. It does happen in (T20 cricket), a hundred miles per hour. It can turn from being a very comfortable game of cricket to absolute mayhem, and that’s down to the nature of the game. That is the game, you lose two quick wickets and suddenly you are under pressure. So it’s up to the players to leave out the pressure to find a way to deal with it and come through to the upper side.