'Coach's role hinges on team maturity'

It took some perseverance to finally convince Chandika Hathurusingha to comply with the request for an interview. The Sri Lanka head coach, who only a few months ago was mentoring the Tigers, fixed an early morning deadline for The Daily Star reporter Mohammed Al-Amin at the Rose View Hotel lobby prior to their departure for home from Sylhet on Monday. Although it started at the breakfast table, the interview eventually finished at the VIP lounge of the Osmani International Airport. During the stop-start yet in-depth conversation, Hathurusingha spoke of taking the coaching role to a new height, his satisfying and disappointing moments with the Tigers during a three-year tenure and touched upon areas he never addressed publicly before. The following are excerpts of the exclusive interview:

The Daily Star (TDS): You enjoyed a lot of authority and the general sentiment is that you acted like a dictator during your tenure as Bangladesh coach. How do you react to that?

Chandika Hathurusingha (CH): This comes with a certain level of authority -- you have to do certain things as a leader and that doesn't mean you are authoritative. Because if you have a vision, if you have a goal to achieve, you make certain decisions and you are accountable. If you are accountable, it sometimes comes off as showing authority. You can't give in to everybody because you know what you want and what's best for the team. And in that sense I have to make decisions which people may misunderstand. And then again I'm not here to satisfy the media and I'm not here to satisfy anyone other than the team and the board I'm working for. If they don't allow me to do my job, then I won't stay.

TDS: Was it the team management's decision to send Mahmudullah Riyad back home before the second Test in Colombo in March 2017? Was it the idea that if a senior member is not included in the team it is better for him to leave the total framework?

CH: Who has that say? I don't have that say. If you are dropped you are dropped. If you are rested then you are rested.

TDS: Have you seen how Mominul Haque reacted after scoring his hundred in the first Test? And people say that he was reacting to you…

CH: Yes, I have not seen Mominul reacting like that before. I don't know about people's opinions and you have to ask Mominul. He is a very, very good Test player but he needs to improve because on certain wickets he can play very well but on wickets that are a little sporting, he needs to improve his own game. But he has improved a lot. For me, I have seen him in the last three years and he has become a really, really attacking player than before I came and he has changed his technique and is very intelligent.

TDS: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has retired from T20I cricket. His leadership role was very important. Since you have worked with the team for a long time, can you give an idea about future leaders? 

CH: It's hard for me to answer that question now because I'm not there [as Bangladesh coach]. If I say something, it will influence or go against the people who are in the selection process making decisions and whoever is coach. It's not fair for me to say that. They have to find their own leader. I am still doing  the opposition camp so I am not going to comment on that but there are some good leaders in the team.

TDS: Did the decision to rest Shakib Al Hasan for the Test part of the South Africa tour disappoint you, especially as you carefully arranged the training schedules of some players who also have other international commitments?  

CH: It is disappointing in that context. Then again, I would have loved to know about that a little earlier. That's all… because I got to know about that a bit late.

TDS: You tendered your resignation during the South Africa tour. Isn't that surprising given the fact that you signed a contract till the 2019 World Cup and it was also understood that you refused the Sri Lanka job prior to signing the extended contract with BCB?  

CH: The BCB has been very supportive of me. I think I have given enough time so that they can choose someone.

TDS: The players have been a family to you for three years. Did you share your decision with them?

CH: I shared it with my family who live in Australia.  

TDS: The South Africa tour was certainly the most disappointing tour for you?

CH: It's hard for the Asian teams to do well there.

TDS: There was intensity during the New Zealand tour but were you distracted [in South Africa]? Do you think that intensity was lacking during the SA tour?

CH: No, I don't think so but we had a lot of injuries. If you remember, from the start of the tour the main players got injured. We did not have much backup at that stage and we did not have many players who had experience of playing in South Africa. Tamim [Iqbal] got injured early on and Soumya [Sarkar] was injured early on. Mustafizur [Rahman] was injured in the middle. So all of that affected us. I don't think the way we played was because of a lack of intensity. They tried hard.

TDS: What is your most cherished memory with the Tigers?

CH: The biggest change that Bangladesh had in my time was the first one; there was a lot more after that, but the first one was the most important for me when they beat England in Adelaide [in a 2015 World Cup group match]. That was a big breakthrough mentally, for the team to understand that they can compete away from home in Australian conditions and in a pressure match where both teams have to win to qualify. So that's a big breakthrough that if you ask me to pinpoint, that I think changed the attitude of players and the confidence going forward after that.

TDS: And a memory that you want to forget?

CH: I think that one in the T20 World Cup [the one-run loss against India]. It happened very quickly. We also did not have any time to reflect on it or think about what's going to happen because I mean with Riyad and Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim] at the wicket -- those are your best players to have in that situation when you have one run off three balls. You can't think of anything else other than winning.  So, it was a shock for us as well.

TDS: You are emotional, very animated in the dressing room and always act like a father figure. But that certainly did not affect your professional judgment.

CH: Who said that? It doesn't mean that I was acting and that's me being a normal guy and I try to be authentic.

TDS: You are taking coaching to a different level when in most teams captains are calling the shots. You also acted as a selector in the Bangladesh team and now in the Sri Lankan team. How is it helping the team?

CH: The leading role is depending on the maturity or depending on the team you are coaching and I think if you think you need to step up, help and add value to the team, you have to add value to the team. You can also sit back and let them play depending on the maturity of the team.

Being a selector, if you are responsible, it helps. I think going forward in international cricket the coaching role is going to be like a football coach's role because so much cricket is being played now in three different formats. The players and the captain have less time to think about the team. They have to think about their own game in the three formats. So, I think a coach has to come and help and needs to have a very good relationship with the captain to have that kind of effect.

TDS: So you are broaching the idea of making the cricket coach's role more like that of a football manager's?

CH: Not manager. What I mean is cricket coaches will have to play a more active role because of the three formats. Nowadays, they play so much cricket and the team changes, so you can't rely on one person because the captain changes, six to five players are coming in for the next format, then again another change for Tests. So, it's very difficult unless you have a consistent team.

TDS: One criticism directed at you is that you have hardly watched Bangladesh's domestic matches while playing the role of selector.

CH: I don't agree because I have other people to do that. You have to trust the people that you work with and you will have to trust people that you have assigned to do the job. It's like me trusting my assistant. I am not on board till I trust my bowling coach, fielding coach and batting coach.

I mean, I will have to trust their judgment and call and at the same time keep an eye on everything. And that is how it works. I think that is why you think dictatorship comes [within me]. If you are a dictator then you don't allow other people to do their job [laughs].

TDS: The way you treated Soumya, you didn't with other players. Did you like him most?

CH: If you ask all the players, I treated everyone equally. I did not have senior or juniors; I treated everyone equally. But I treated talented players and gave them enough opportunity to perform and they did, because it helped the team to win. Soumya is a very talented player and he is going to be a very important player for Bangladesh if you look after him. And there are other good players as well. It doesn't mean I had less time for the other players. I mean I had time for Riyad; when I came he wasn't performing. Now he has three ICC hundreds. I also gave my time to Mushfiqur and Tamim as well, and Imrul and Sabbir [Rahman] as well. I think Sabbir is a very talented player and I am surprised that he was not playing the last game [second T20I] on that wicket. There is Mehedi [Hasan] Miraz also. If the authorities look after these players, there is a good future. The thing is that they [players] failed. Cricket is a game of failing. You must not react too early. You need to give them chances. Give them time. If you identify talent, then you need to back it and you need to give them some extra time because you have identified them as talents.

TDS: What about Mustafizur. His cutters are no longer as productive.

CH: No, I don't think that is the case. He had surgery and it will take time. It takes one-and-a-half years to get back to normal. And his cutter is coming back. The thing is that on certain wickets he is very effective but on others he is not. And that's normal because he can't spin the ball or bowl the cutter the way he bowled on the Mirpur wicket if he is bowling somewhere in Australia or England.

TDS: Do you think your departure has damaged the confidence of the Bangladesh team?

CH: No, I don't think that way and I am also not in a position to say anything because I am not in the team now. If I say something now, it will constitute as judgment. 

TDS: But they are the same set of players…

CH: I think the Sri Lankan cricket team played smart cricket. We put them under pressure and it's all credit to the Sri Lankan captain and players. They were very smart, they learned very quickly from the first two games. They understood the conditions. We were a bit surprised by the conditions in Mirpur in the first two games. We also lost the toss and that affected us. And then we came back with the very smart execution of game plans and Dinesh Chandimal led them very well once we understood what was happening.

TDS: Your target is to take Sri Lanka back to the fantastic team they were when they won the World Cup. Do you think they are going in that direction?

CH: That is what we are aspiring to, but what we really want to do, what I really like to see is we do everything to our potential. We can't control what the other team is doing. Some other team can be better than us on the day, but still if we are doing our best then I am very happy.

TDS: You next assignment is the T20 tri-series at home and India will be the biggest challenge.

CH: We are trying for both things -- the biggest challenge for us is to get used to the conditions again, although they are Sri Lankan conditions. We need to get used to that again. That is always the biggest challenge in a team. At the same time, India are the benchmark at this stage so that can be another challenge.

TDS: You are here today, but you can shift to another team and then come back. Do you entertain the idea that someday you might?

CH: I'm just starting and I'm loving what I'm doing. This is probably my biggest dream. I hope I last as long as I can for the Sri Lanka team.