Walsh explains Rubel’s exclusion from team

Bangladesh’s fast bowling coach and legendary Windies pacer Courtney Walsh has explained that fast-bowler Rubel Hossain has not been selected in Bangladesh’s starting XI so far because of team combination but is hopeful that he will get a chance in the upcoming games.

"He (Rubel) had a very good season last year. He is bowling pretty well this year too, but because of the formation of the team, he hasn't been able to get in. I just hope he takes his chance well with still a couple of more games left in the tournament. He has been bowling well in the nets so it is a plus for Bangladesh cricket. Hopefully whenever he gets his chance, he will make it count," Walsh said to the media.

Bangladesh will next face Walsh’s ex team, the Windies, in a crucial encounter for the top four race on Monday in Taunton. Both teams are on three points from four games but Bangladesh have recently gotten the better of the Caribbean side in recent encounters with the Tigers winning seven of their last nine ODI games.

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Bangladesh recently also won the final of a tri-nation series involving the Windies and hosts Ireland, where they beat the Windies to win their first ever final in a series involving three or more teams.

"We were very consistent in every department right throughout that tri-nation (series)," Walsh said. "We have been hampered a little bit by the weather here. It is out of our control. If we can get the consistency in the next couple of games, who knows what can happen?"

There has been plenty of talk after the game against England about the bowling unit, where Bangladesh conceded 386 runs, the most in this tournament so far. Walsh though believes that the bowling unit is still working hard and on the right track, even though they have been found lacking in pace, compared to the other teams.

"You have to have pace sometimes but for me, consistency, control and execution is more important. If you don't have the 140-150kph (pace), then you have to compensate (for) that. We have certainly been consistent, hitting the right areas and getting good variation. The guys have been working hard but you will have bad games here and there. Consistency is the key for us, and try to get good variation,” Walsh explained.

A concern for Bangladesh has been the form of their talismanic medium-fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman. He has so far taken four wickets from three games with an economy of 7.26. He was expensive against England and also seemed to lack his usual bite against the New Zealand lower order.

"(Mustafiz) went for a few but I don't think he bowled badly. I just think that when he played against a side like England, every loose ball that he bowled went away for boundaries. When that happens, the figures don't look good. I personally thought he bowled well in this game, probably 80 per cent of the way that he bowled. If the 20 per cent that went for boundaries didn't go, figures won't have looked so bad," Walsh concluded.