Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons said on Monday admitted on Monday that his charges are not having the best of preparation as they prepare for the Champions Trophy and now they will be focused on changing their mentality from T20 cricket to 50-over format.
While some other countries are preparing by playing bilateral ODI series between them it is not the same for Bangladesh as they are going into the Champions Trophy on the back of playing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), country’s lone franchise-based T20 tournament.
Bangladesh started their preparation at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from February 8.
“I agree that it is not the best preparation. But they were playing white-ball cricket, which means that they are sharp skills-wise. We have to get their minds up to 50-over cricket in the next six or seven days. They have the skills. They are performing. It is about getting to that 50-over mentality now,” Phil Simmons told reporters on Monday.
“We will have double practice sessions in the next couple of days. We bat and bowl in the morning and then do the same under the lights. We are getting ourselves prepared to bat for 50 overs,” he said.
“The first part of the preparation is about Dubai. Once we can get ourselves in the right frame of mind, and work on the right things for Dubai, I think we can start the start the competition well. We will get familiar conditions in Pakistan after that,” he said.
“We have not seen any residue from the BPL in the days of training camp so far. Players are looking to get time in the middle, to get into the frame of mind of batting long and bowling in the right areas in 50-over cricket. I don’t think it is going to affect them in any way,” he added.
Source: The Daily Sun
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