ICC Women's Asia Cup kicks off today

Tillakaratne urges Tigresses to play fearless cricket

They face Sri Lanka tomorrow

FE Team | Published: July 25, 2024 20:00:41

Hashan Tillakaratne, the Bangladesh women's team head coach, has urged the team to get out from the mindset of playing with the fear of failure as they prepare to start their Women's Asia Cup campaign, with their opening game against hosts Sri Lanka tomorrow (Saturday), reports Cricbuzz.
The ninth edition of the Women's Asia Cup will get underway today (Friday) in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh are will be looking to return to winning ways in international cricket, having lost all the games against Australia and India at home earlier this year. Bangladesh's batting was exposed against the two cricketing giants and the Asia Cup will be their last chance to fix the chinks ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, which will be played across different venues of Bangladesh from October 3 to November 24.
"I think it (batting debacle in the last two series) is all about batting with fear of failure," Tillakaratne told the news agency. "They come from different backgrounds and also we, as coaches, we have told them just go out there and play fearless cricket. Express yourself, play fearless cricket. So, it's all about confidence level and they know the technical and tactical part very well. We have done lots of work with them.
"The only thing is, just go out there, have a clear mindset and execute the plan. For us it's about just working with them. Give them confidence and develop them. That is our part. So, when they go out there, they must have a real mindset. And just go out there and execute the plan. The preparation has been very good and also before the camp there was a tournament and there were some good performances in the tournament and the selectors have recognized them and selected them (on the basis of that tournament) for the Asia Cup," she said.
Tillakaratne said the return of experienced campaigners Jahanara Alam and Rumana Ahmed will bolster their squad. Both the returned on the back of commendable performances in domestic cricket.
"Experience counts a lot in major tournaments and also the most important World Cup is around the corner. So it's always nice to have both Jahanara and Rumana considering they have done well in the tournament," said Tillakaratne. "We all know what they have done and they had a very lean period and after these steady performances (in domestic cricket) I'm sure the experience will give lots of weight to the side."
The head coach said the return of the duo can serve as an inspiration for other cricketers looking to make a comeback, including another experienced campaigner Salma Khatun who is out of the national team for quite some time.
"Yeah, that is a good eye opener for all the players. As long as you perform you can be in the side, if you don't perform, you can't stay. There are so many good players knocking at the door. We have an NCL (T20 format tournament played by eight divisional sides) after this (Asia Cup) and so that also will help some of the players to show their true talent in the tournament.