Humorous Hathurusingha running out of ideas?

Talks of making changes, heading in a new direction, and bringing in fresh faces are all common phrases thrown around by people at the helm of teams that have fallen on their faces in a World Cup.

So when Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said, "I think it is time that we need to move on from some of the players that have played for a long time," right before a two-Test series at home against New Zealand after their disgraceful showing in the World Cup, it seemed like a measured response of a person who knew what he needed to say to deflect the heat.

The Sri Lankan was correct in his assessment as the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, and Mushfiqur Rahim -- Tigers' stalwarts -- are in the last stretch of their international careers.

The team's abysmal showing in the 2023 World Cup, their worst in the last two decades, was also another indication that it is time to start moving in a new direction.

But it did not take Hathurusingha too long to contradict his own words.

On Sunday, the Tigers lost the first ODI of the three-match series against the Kiwis in New Zealand by 44 runs via DLS.

In the match, multiple rain interruptions exposed Bangladesh's shortage in the bowling department, and Soumya Sarkar, who was the fifth bowler in the match, leaked 66 runs off his full quota of six overs which allowed the hosts to run away with the match.

Yesterday, Hathurusingha was asked about the logic behind picking Soumya, who is basically a batter who can bowl some gentle medium pace, to play Shakib's role, to which the Sri Lankan gave a very familiar response, heard many times before during the all-rounder's unavailability.

"Bangladesh teams for the last 15 years were used to having Shakib. We are finding it hard to make a combination [without him]."

The problems caused by Shakib's absence are apparent to all. But the job of the national team's head coach is not to just point out the obvious problem, but to come up with a solution.

Shakib, who is still the team's regular captain in all three formats as per the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) despite him announcing that he would not lead the team post-World Cup, is not getting any younger.

The all-rounder is 36 years of age and according to his own admission, he will retire from the game in 2025 after the ICC Champions Trophy.

On top of that, he has now ventured into politics, which is certain to take up more of his time in the coming years.

Bangladesh are without the all-rounder in the New Zealand series as he is still recovering from a finger injury.

So the series against New Zealand could have been a test case of how Bangladesh can play when Shakib moves on from the game.

In the first ODI, Bangladesh's grand solution to the problem was picking Soumya, a player who has the uncanny knack of getting selected for the national team without doing anything of note at the domestic level.

Soumya, who had taken only one wicket and made 139 runs in his nine previous ODIs on New Zealand soil, had a horrible time in the first ODI.

In Tuesday's media interaction, when asked about the batters' tendency of throwing away their wickets after getting starts, the Sri Lankan quipped, "It is a big concern. If you have the answer, let me know, I'll talk to them."

It was most likely an innocent comment made in the spur of the moment. Or perhaps it was the Freudian slip of a contradicting man who is running out of ideas.