Mahela looking for fun with Titans

Other than the franchises who plan and prepare for their next tilt at the title in the Bangladeshi winter, the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is not at the forefront for the rest of the year. Yesterday, however, the BPL made a brief summertime return to the limelight through the bonafide star power of Sri Lanka batting legend Mahela Jayawardene, who has been named the coach of last season's third-placed side Khulna Titans.

In a meet-the-press ceremony titled 'Mahela Jayawardene: The new Titan in town' at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in Dhaka the former Sri Lanka captain, who has also had a coaching stint with 2017 Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians, answered questions alongside retained icon player and captain Mahmudullah Riyad, Titans' advisor and current Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selector Habibul Bashar and BCB director and Titans managing director Kazi Inam Ahmed.

The 149-Test veteran was generous in his praise for Bangladesh's improvement; the team currently sit at number seven in ODIs, having achieved a high of sixth during the recent Champions Trophy. "They've been very consistent in the last six years or so, purely because they have had a talented group of cricketers together for a long time. The younger talent seems to be very consistent."

Bangladesh's rise has come at the expense of Jayawardene's native Sri Lanka, who are placed eighth now and sustained some body blows during Bangladesh's tour of that country earlier this year.

"The bigger secret is to have a Sri Lankan coaching staff, it makes a huge difference. We will take a bit of credit for that," said Jayawardene with a laugh, alluding to Bangladesh's coaching staff that includes Sri Lankans Chandika Hathurusingha and Thilan Samaraweera.

As for his commitment to Khulna, Jayawardene -- who was recently also a batting consultant for England -- said that enjoyment of the game would be high on his list of priorities.

"I always said that cricket is not going to be my full-time job after I retire. This is the fun part for me -- to be part of the game and enjoy."

He was also not bothered about the relatively short period that the team will get to prepare before the BPL starts in November. "The tournament is almost six weeks long, which is a lot of time for players to learn the planning, the roles and the execution of certain things. It is enough time for a team to gel.

“It is about building a culture for the team. It will be one of my challenges, as well as making sure that the foreign players understand that and become part of that DNA."