Domingo not worried about his future as Bangladesh head coach
"Not really (concerned about the future as the head coach). I'm enjoying working with the players," said the South African.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding the future of Russell Domingo as the Bangladesh national team's head coach after the team's series loss against Sri Lanka. He, on Tuesday, said that he is not really concerned about losing the job.
"Not really (concerned about the future as the head coach). I'm enjoying working with the players," said the South African.
"I'm enjoying the set-up. There's of course work to be done. I think it's important to try and look at the state of domestic cricket and the facilities the cricketers enjoy when we're not here as well. Of course, there have been tough results. But I have started to connect with the team well and I am confident going forward."
Bangladesh did well to draw the first Test match but were completely outplayed in the second by Sri Lanka. But Domingo said that Bangladesh can take many positives from the tour. "We can take a lot of positives from the tour. I thought the guys played really well in the first Test. The toss was really important in the second Test because the wicket spun. Our bowlers in particular fought really hard. Although the result wasn't in our favour, there are a lot of positives we can take from the tour," he remarked.
Now that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended indefinitely, Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman are free to return home. Bangladesh head coach is happy to have them back. "It's good to have Shakib and Mustafiz back when they do arrive. The next series will be important as qualification points are up for grabs. We need to bounce back after a tough series in New Zealand," said the 46-year old.
"It's good to be playing in the home conditions again. As I said, it's good to get experienced players like Shakib and Mustafiz back. We will be playing against a very dangerous side. So, we have to play really well to beat them," he added.
Although Bangladesh's overall result in the World Test Championship is frustrating, Domingo still sees a glimmer of hope. "I am very frustrated with the result in the World Test Championship. We played well in the first Test against West Indies. Some bad decisions and errors cost us the game. The second Test was close as well. We played good cricket in the first Test against Sri Lanka. I see a little bit of progress and I am excited by I what I've seen of late," he mentioned.
Domingo suggested that it's better to leave the past behind and focus on the future. He said, "There will always be question marks when you lose series at home. We have to deal with them and make sure we prepare well before the series against Sri Lanka. It's important to learn from the past and focus on the future."
Domingo heaped praise on Mustafizur Rahman who, thus far, bowled exceedingly well in the IPL.
The Bangladesh head coach said that Bangladesh are badly in need of a seam-bowling all-rounder to find the right balance. "As I said, there will always be criticism when you lose. Obviously, it's tough to find the balance when there is no Shakib. You either play one batter less or one bowler less."
"I definitely think we need to identify an all-rounder that can balance our side. Obviously, Shakib is that guy but we need to find someone who can bat in the top six and bowl some seam. It's important especially when you are playing away from home. That's something we don't have now," Domingo concluded.