Pressure got to us, says Stuart Law

An agonising five-run defeat against Pakistan saw Bangladesh bow out of the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup from the Super Sixes on Saturday. The reigning Asian Champions had high hopes of winning the title for the second time since 2020, and it seemed as if a semifinal berth was almost in their grasp. The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin caught up with Stuart Law, the coach of the Bangladesh Under-19 side, as he reflected on the things that went wrong, takeaways for the young Tigers from the tournament in South Africa among a few other topics. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

The Daily Star (DS): It must have been a painful exit for the Bangladesh team from the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

Stuart Law (SL): We spoke about not only winning the match but also in the time where we needed to keep that run-rate above Pakistan to qualify and spoke about the best way to do this. We won the toss and we would bowl first and try to restrict Pakistan under 200 which we did and did very well. Bowling was excellent; great performance from (Rohanat Doullah) Borson and (Sheikh Parvez) Jibon and they were standouts with the ball in hand and our fielding was excellent. We took great catches and executed a good run-out. We were really up for the fight. Then when we were batting, we knew we have 38.1 overs to score the runs which work out in four runs per over. Unfortunately, the pressure got a bit too much for us and Pakistan bowled very well with good pace. The pitch was different from what we been playing in Bloemfontein as there was good bounce and wasn't batter-friendly, so it was always going to be a little bit difficult. However, we feel we should have won the game and we should have been progressing to the semifinals. It was heartbreaking.

There were a lot of tears in the dressing room and the boys were really upset and disappointed with their performance with the bat after putting on a great performance in the field. It was a tough one to comprehend and to explain the last evening for the players, it was difficult. We all wanted to continue this journey forward but unfortunately it was cut short.

DS: How much does it hurt you as a coach?

SL: It doesn't hurt me as a coach but it hurts me because the players are so upset. I am not here for myself, I am here for the players. I have been on this journey for 20 months with them and I think I have missed one practice game in cricket throughout the whole 20 months. To watch these boys to develop not only as young cricketers but also as young men, it was a huge outpour of emotion. I hope you don't want to feel that often as I said to the boys last night (Saturday), 'look pain of this defeat will disappear, it's the memories that we created will last forever. Just think about the memories we are still Asia Cup champions and will remain the Asia Cup champions for the next two years. That's a huge positive and the first time Bangladesh achieved the feat. So there's really good things we have achieved along with the journey and we have numerous series wins and two wins outside of Asia. Hopefully, the hurt of missing out on the semifinal will disappear quickly and we fly out of South Africa today and hopefully starting from tomorrow, it will be a lot easier to forget about it.

DS: Do you think batting was a concern for the team throughout the tournament?

SL: I always think we could have been better in all areas but we are talking about kids who are under-19. Every day they are going to make mistakes as a young man learns from making mistakes. Yes, we have made similar mistakes quite often which is probably more concerning than actually making the mistake. It's a development stage in their career; to play at the higher level under extreme pressure is only going to benefit them in the long run. Yes, everyone wants to win, don't get me wrong, this age group shouldn't be all about winning. We should bank on unearthing some of the talents for the Bangladesh senior team in years to come. I think we have achieved that quite well.

DS: Who are the players you think can go on to represent the senior team soon?

SL: There are a few and from the bowling point of view. I mentioned Borson and I will get back to the Asia Cup semifinal against India and in the final against UAE, he was unbelievable. We had a good quality back up in Maruf (Mridha) and (KIqbal Hossain) Emon as well. But the standout fast bowler would be Borson and probably the lesser mentioned spinner would be Jibon. In all conditions, whether it's a spinning one or not he finds a way to create pressure and put dot balls together and he got wickets in important time and he was outstanding against Pakistan too. There's another: Ariful (Islam) -- against Ireland, USA and Nepal he scored some quick runs to elevate the run-rate. I think they got to develop in how to get better in their games and there is one thing that Ariful needs to learn is how to rotate the strike when there is pressure. (Ashiqur Rahman) Shibly had a good Asia Cup as well and he is probably on the radar.

DS: What will be your message to the players who will now take a step further in domestic circuit from the under-19 level?

SL: My message would be to go out there and to listen to their coaches. Every coach has a different philosophy at different level and you need to do what the coach and the team needs. The process doesn't change; what they have learnt here will give them success everywhere they go as long as they stick to it and believe it. Batting is one of the departments which still needs developments and needs to understand the value of a solid defence, being able to use your footwork and create better opportunities to rotate strikes and power. They all got power in their timing, so they don't really need to go to all these power hitting coaches. You know 90 percent of your power comes from your makeup, DNA. So these guys need to find another way to get the job done as they have got good skills. Just keep drilling these things.

DS: What is your personal plan from here on?

SL: I haven't been spoken to by Bangladesh about continuing. There are a few opportunities in the pipeline for me. I would dearly like to stay with Bangladesh and continue my work here and really enjoyed seeing the boys from the 2016 Under-19 side as part of the coaching panel back then and how they are doing well at the international stage. I really enjoy my time in Bangladesh and I don't have any bad words to say as it's a great place to work and the players are receptive and responsive and eager to learn and get better. That just gives you a great feeling to continue. Conversations are yet to happen, so I don't know at this stage what is going on.