Steve Rhodes was not the right match for our culture, reckons BCB President Nazmul Hassan
Nazmul Hassan has stated that former coach Steve Rhodes did not take his assignment seriously enough and failed to communicate enough with players to keep his spot as the team’s coach. He discussed certain incidents and conversations he had with players to explain his reasons for saying so.
Steve Rhodes was appointed as Bangladesh’s head coach last year with expectations of him leading to glory what is probably the country’s strongest ever cricket team assembled. However, Bangladesh fell short of their goals, ended eighth in the ten-team World Cup. Rhodes’ contract was simultaneously terminated, even though it ran up till the World T20 to be held next year.
"I saw the changes [in the style of coaching] when I was in Dubai for the Asia Cup final. We saw that things have changed. We waited. The players have told me continuously - after the New Zealand tour and also during the World Cup - that they don't get to speak to the coach,” Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan was reported saying by ESPNCricinfo.
While no player has publicly voiced criticism of the coach, Hassan stated that they communicated to him privately of the lack of Rhodes’ commitment to the team’s cause.
"He only lands in the team meeting on the day before the game. He doesn't talk about strategy. He is just there. This is what the players have told me. I am telling you after listening to everyone. I never had a direct interaction. But from what I have seen, I felt that he doesn't match with us,” Hassan revealed.
The Bangladesh players were reportedly given a five-day holiday ahead of their World Cup clash with India which saw them going on tours of Europe. Hassan claims neither he nor the board directors in England Akram Khan and Khaled Mahmud were informed of the same.
"There's a difference between giving rest and a break. Everyone had left, so it broke their concentration. Maybe it is fine in their culture, but we feel that it doesn't match with our culture. I don't think it was the right decision. You can give rest for two or three days. Their eyes and face should have said that they were thinking about the World Cup, the next two games. They haven't matured as cricketers to come back from this type of break,” Hassan said highlighting the disparity in views and culture of him and Rhodes.
Hasan further claimed that certain players were part of the team despite carrying injuries, while Rhodes also failed to keep the management in the loop of what he was planning for the team.
"We had fixed the squad in the presence of the coach and everyone. But the next day we saw another team playing the game. These things haven't happened in the past. This is definitely a problem. We have decided that it won't work like this. We are not saying he is not good but the way the team was running, it was totally different from our thinking,” Hassan concluded.