Indian’s former World Cup cricket star Mohinder Amarnath was the Bangladesh national cricket team coach during the ICC Trophy in 1994. Things had looked promising for Bangladesh side initially, but the Faruk-Minhajul team failed to clinch the deal. That failure remains a thorn in the flesh for Bangladesh’s cricket. In an interview with Prothom Alo, Amarnath talks about his Bangladesh stint.
Anything can happen in cricket, said Mohinder Amarnath, referring to the Bangladesh national cricket team’s failure to qualify for the 1996 World during the ICC Trophy held in 1994 in Kenya. Bangladesh had the competence to play in the 1996 World Cup and the organisers had tried hard for the team to do well in the ICC Trophy held in Kenya, but the players failed to perform. On the day, my team’s players did not play to their full capacity. As a coach, I cannot evade the blame either.
When faced with a question in this regard during an interview with Prothom Alo, the former Indian cricket star said that it was so many years ago and he did not quite recall the details. “Minhajul was an excellent cricketer, no doubt,” he said, “I had highest respect for his abilities. But after so many years, I don’t want to talk about what transpired about his captaincy. I don’t want to stir up a controversy.”
Players like Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim are world class cricketers. More players like Shakib and Mushfiqur must be discovered if Bangladesh wants to achieve its target
Referring to the clubs on the domestic cricket scene in Bangladesh at the time, Amarnath said the clubs had been very popular though there had been conflict among the clubs too. However, he said, as I coach I never got caught up in the club politics or any such problems.
Would the results have been different in the 1994 ICC Trophy if he had players like Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim or Tamim Iqbal in the Bangladesh team at the time?
When faced with this question, Amarnath answered, “It is not right to draw comparisons. The best players of 1994 in Bangladesh were on my team. Minhajul Abedin, Faruk Ahmed, Akram Khan, Enamul Huq, Golam Nausher, were the best cricketers of Bangladesh. So I have no regrets about my ICC Trophy team.”
He [Amernath] has a sense of satisfaction in seeing how far Bangladesh cricket has progressed over the past 26 years
The former cricketer and coach also recalled the good rapport he had with the Bangladesh team. “It has been 26 years,” he said, “and I always remember them. They will always have my best wishes. I am aware that they are involved in Bangladesh’s cricket scene in various capacities.”
Commenting on the present Bangladesh team, Amarnath said that this was an extremely talented team. On a good day they can beat any team in the world in a limited over match. There are quite a few world class cricketers in the team, he said, adding, however, that there was need for consistency in performance. Bowling had to improve. “When Bangladesh plays well, I feel proud as a former coach,” he said.
How does it feel when Bangladesh beats India?
“As I said, on a good day, they can beat any team, and that includes India!” he said, recalling, that Bangladesh had defeated India on several occasions. He particularly remembers India losing to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup. He has a sense of satisfaction in seeing how far Bangladesh cricket has progressed over the past 26 years.
Bangladesh has not managed to perform well when it comes to the test format, but Mohinder Amarnath sees no dearth of talent among the Bangladesh boys. He recommends that Bangladesh concentrate on the test format of cricket. This should be introduced at the school level. The scope of first division cricket at a domestic level needed to be expanded, made more competitive. This required sporting wickets, playing shots according to the wicket and the merit of the ball. The new generation cricketers needed to build up these skills.
This interview appeared in Prothom Alo online and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir
