2019 WC wasn’t an annihilation of Bangladesh: Rhodes
"I don’t really want to get dragged into any conversation about the BCB," Rhodes said
BDCricTime StaffDesk Report
Posted - 2022-01-18T20:34:02+06:00
Updated - 2022-01-18T20:34:02+06:00
After being sacked as Bangladesh head coach on 2019 World Cup failure, Englishman Steve Rhodes is in Bangladesh again, this time as a consultant to BPL franchise Comilla Victorians.
Rhodes joined the team ahead of BPL's eighth edition. Speaking to reporters, Rhodes expressed his delight to return to Bangladesh.
"It is great to be back," he said. "The one thing when I arrived, CV made me feel welcome, which is very special. Thankfully, for me, whenever I have come to Bangladesh, people have been accommodating and friendly. I feel honored to be back with good people."
During his short tenure with Bangladesh, Rhodes saw Bangladesh win away series against West Indies, play the Asia Cup final, and win tri-nation series in Ireland.
But it all fell apart in the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales, where Bangladesh only managed to defeat South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan to finish eighth among ten teams. Bangladesh Cricket Board was quick to sack Rhodes after that.
Rhodes however feels the World Cup was not 'as bad as people think'. Bangladesh did drag New Zealand till the end only to lose by two wickets, and also gave a good go at steep run-chases against England and India.
"I don’t really want to get dragged into any conversation about the BCB," Rhodes said. "I think that’s history. If you look back at the World Cup, barring Pakistan, we played pretty well in all of the games. Even in defeat against England or India, we put up a good shout. It wasn’t an annihilation of Bangladesh. Mixed in between, we had some good wins. We pushed NZ in the World Cup. I don’t think it is as bad as people think. Departure from any post or any job, people have opinions."
Bangladesh coaching panel, now led by Russell Domingo, is under scrutiny again after the recent T20 World Cup failure. However, there came a light in the dark when Mominul Haque's Test team beat New Zealand in Mount Maunganui in what turned out to be one of the finest moments in Bangladesh's history.
"I don’t know it well enough to comment. I only read your reports. You probably know more than me. From what I read, I know the coaching staff are hard working. Some of the results haven’t gone their way previously, but there’s also been some brilliant results. But to win against NZ in the Test match was a tremendous effort. The guys stood up and did well. It was probably too much to manage the second game. They came back strong. The T20s win (vs Australia and New Zealand) in Bangladesh were fantastic," Rhodes added.