Representing country motivation enough to play Tests, feels Hathurusingha

In the modern day, Test cricket is getting irrelevant until it is part of ICC World Test Championship.

Test cricket got a new lease of life after the introduction of WTC considering it was finding it hard to survive with all franchise-based T20 tournaments that is being played around the globe.

For Bangladesh, probably, that is not the case considering they were bottom placed in both cycle of the Test Championship but still their head coach Chandika Hathurusingha seemed excited nonetheless ahead of their one-off game in the whites against Afghanistan, which is not part of WTC.

“You’re playing for your country. Forget about Test Championship, that came how long ago? Two years, three years ago, or four years ago,” said Hathurusingha ahead of the series against Afghanistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

“Before that, you are playing Test cricket for your country. That’s what we dream of when we start playing in 11, 9, 10 (years old) – playing for your country, I don’t have to inspire anyone. If there’s a problem, then I think he is in the wrong place,” he said.

“In my head, and I think in the players’ heads, playing for your country in a Test match is enough for them to be motivated, and that’s how I look at it. So, any match you play for your country… is an honor. So, I think we don’t look beyond that,” he said.

“If you ask my opinion, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. No matter how popular the other formats are going to be in the future. As a cricketer, you know, your skill was tested in Test cricket. As a bowler, as a batter, as a fielder, it has tested you, your skills, your mental skills, your resilience, everything. So, there’s no better format than Tests for any cricketer if you really want to be proud of representing your country,” he said adding that they won’t find problem switching their mindset like the way Indians faced against Australia in the WTC final after coming from Indian Premier League.

“The way we prepared for this game, we actually prioritized red-ball cricket for a period of time, how we train. I don’t see any difficulty in that. But relevant to your question about the Test Championship, I think it’s challenging for cricketers to shift their mindset and your instinct from T20 cricket to Test cricket unless you have a bit of a time to prepare,” he said.

“So, I understand that because they (India) went straight from IPL, didn’t have much time to prepare and it’s also different conditions. So for us, I don’t think that’s going to be the case.”

Hathurusingha added that though there is green top but it does not suggest that spinners won’t play their part considering the heat that at one point forced BCB to think of extended break.

“Grass is green because of the rain the last few days. So, I have seen green wickets here before. We played against Ireland on a green wicket. As relevant to the previous question, we have fast bowlers. So, we need to give them a condition that suits their strength. We have good spinners as well. So, this game is only starting as a green wicket. You know that with this heat it’ll deteriorate very quickly, and then it’ll help the spinners in the latter parts of the game. So, I think this pitch is a good sporting wicket for everybody, the batter, bowlers – fast bowlers and spinners. So, I’d like to see a good contest,” he said.

The Bangladesh coach noted that the management will take a call of Tamim Iqbal, who is carrying a back injury.

“I think he is going to train today and see how he feels. He trained the day before and he had some discomfort when he was doing certain disciplines, fielding and batting. So, he’s going to train today and we will assess him after training,” he concluded.