Rhodes wants to give all 19 squad members a chance
Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes admits that managing 19 cricketers is difficult but insisted if that is the case he is not going to give preferences to specific core group as he believe everyone deserves a fair chance , if selected in the national squad.
“As a coach it’s difficult because we organize practice and suddenly there are so many people that get involved in practice because it is fair for everybody to have a crack,’’ Rhodes pointed out explaining the details on the fine balance he has to maintain in a big 19-man squad and with players looking to give their best effort ahead of the World Cup next month.
‘’That makes my job a bit difficult, but so what we got 19 and we get on with it and I told you some of the reasons why we wanted those players and I would do my best to prepare everybody,’’ Rhodes explained to the media.
‘’Life can be very difficult at times hopefully next game we get some points so that we can give match-time to some of these guys,” he concluded.
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Every time, the squad for the Bangladesh national team gets announced, fans and media from different quarters of the Bangladesh cricketing arena voice their opinions on what they liked, and mostly what they didn’t like. Who were the unlucky ones to have missed out and who should have been replaced, becomes a hot topic of debate for all in the know.
Steve Rhodes has seen his fair share of the selection drama and inconsistencies, and how the public and media have had an impact on the final decision by the management in a cricket-mad country.
Although the World Cup squad was announced well before the tri-nation series in Ireland started, players like Taskin Ahmed, and Farhad Reza got included in a 19-man squad for the penultimate series ahead of cricket’s biggest event.
The hope has been that if these players perform in the series, they would be able to make their claim to the World Cup. Rhodes was willing to give all the players in the squad a chance but admitted that it became difficult with the second game against Ireland being washed out.
“If we had won this game (against Ireland) it would have been easier to play some of these guys but we got only two points for the no result and it may affect the opportunities for the guys and that’s a shame. It’s never an ideal world and it’s never perfect,” he explained.
“Even having those two guys here Reza and Yasir (Ali) and I watched them play domestic cricket and I liked the way they play their cricket. I liked how they have gone with the team and also their professionalism. Hopefully they get a chance and if they don’t get a chance we’re still learning about them,” Rhodes concluded.
