The Domingo effect: The much criticised coach taking Tigers to new heights

It was the hug seen around the world. Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo and Tamim Iqbal in a warm embrace, all smiles after Bangladesh had won the 3rd ODI and their first ODI series against South Africa in South Africa. 

It can be argued that this was the best bi-lateral ODI series win in Bangladesh's cricket history. 

Domingo deserves credit for this achievement along with the team management, the coaching staff and the leadership of Tamim. 

But the head coach was under scrutiny and pressure from the media and fans, even leading up to the series. 

Even though Bangladesh had won the ODI series against Afghanistan in the leadup to the tour of South Africa, there were questions about the team environment and whether the squad was a happy unit, especially with the way they lost one of the ODIs and T20I games in the series.

There was also the drama with Shakib Al Hasan and his eventual participation in the series along with what the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan was saying regarding the matter.

Scapegoating the coach after every defeat or any issue with the cricket setup seemed like the easy option by certain quarters of the media and fans.

But despite all the outside noise, the Tigers have let their cricket do the talking in the field.

The series win pretty much consolidates Bangladesh's qualification for the World Cup next year and their no.1 rank in the ODI Super League table. 

But 2022 overall has been a good year for Bangladesh cricket. 

Just a few months ago, they won their first-ever Test match against New Zealand, and that too in New Zealand, the defending World Test Champions. 

The pressure on Domingo though had generally been there from the beginning.

When he took over as head coach in 2019, Bangladesh had tough tours against India and Pakistan and they lost the Tests they played against those teams by big margins without putting up a fight.

They hit rock bottom when they ended up losing a Test against newcomers Afghanistan a few months earlier, his first assignment as head coach. 

There was a sense that Domingo was too laid back and didn't quite understand the culture of Bangladesh cricket.

The sacking of his predecessor, Steve Rhodes, who had an impressive win percentage and a good relationship with the players didn't bode well with the fans after a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2019. 

All of that led to calls for his sacking and Domingo, who himself applied to be the coach of the High Performance (HP) unit but got drafted in to be the head coach of the national team by the BCB.

The mixed results continued as Bangladesh won the Test, ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe, won the ODI series against West Indies but lost the Test series against them at home. 

That was followed up by a tough away tour against New Zealand where Bangladesh lost all of their matches and another tour to Sri Lanka where they lost the Test series but won the ODI series. 

Following a mixed 2020, 2021 started to look better as Bangladesh won all their matches in a tour to Zimbabwe and then won their maiden T20I series against Australia and then New Zealand at home. 

But the T20I World Cup was once again a disappointment, where Bangladesh failed to register a single win in the main phase of the competition. 

The next series was against Pakistan, and that too was a disappointing one with the team losing the Tests and T20Is at home. 

But the new year has improved things, and there is a sense that Bangladesh are a strong unit at home but also are growing as a force away from it.

The pace unit of Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam looks better than ever and the growth of Litton Das as a batter has helped the Tigers greatly. 

The averages of the top order batters have also improved under Domingo and the same can be said about the bowling. 

While it can be argued that sacking Steve Rhodes was a mistake and a premature decision, the board has made sure not to do that again in the case of Domingo, and as a result. 

The team are reaping the benefits of sticking with a long term plan and trusting in the process without making knee-jerk decisions. 

Domingo too is learning more with experience and time and understanding the cricket culture in Bangladesh better.

The South African may well end up as the most successful coach in Bangladesh cricket history and help take the country's cricket to newer heights. 

The results are there, the numbers are proof, and the Domingo effect cannot be ignored.