'Young guys are eager to learn'

You can have the best coaching staff in the world but it is also up to the players, especially at an elite level, to get the most out of the coaches through proper communication. Unfortunately, there has often been a tendency for Bangladeshi cricketers to be shy and scared to ask questions of foreign coaches due to the language barrier or the high profile of the coach.

According to sources close to the team many young Bangladeshi fast bowlers were initially nervous about talking to West Indies fast bowling legend Courtney Walsh after he was appointed the Tigers' bowling coach.

The latest high-profile addition to the coaching staff is a limited-overs batting consultant in the form of former South Africa batsman Neil McKenzie, whose first assignment was the limited-overs leg of the West Indies tour which Bangladesh won after batting debacles saw them lose both Tests on tour.

A veteran of 58 ODIs and 64 Tests during the Proteas' heyday between 2000 and 2009, McKenzie joined the Tigers' ongoing training camp yesterday and immediately started working with the batsmen and the question of the cricketers' shyness was put to him.

"I will do anything to benefit the team as the team always comes first. If talking to someone benefits the team, I would do it. I don't talk for the sake of talking -- some coaches want to show how much they know. I am not that type of guy. I try to hang back, do the work and get to know the guy's technical side. The Bangladesh guys are open to learning, they ask questions the whole time, especially the young guys. It will be a good fit and communication. But I am not scared to talk," McKenzie told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The 42-year-old also added that he is the type of person who reads the players' personality and said that he is eager to build trust and relationships with his charges.

Head coach Steve Rhodes meanwhile conducted a match-scenario training session yesterday where the batsmen had to chase 49 runs in the last six overs or score 12 runs in the final over keeping the final stages of a tight game in mind.

"Most of the ODI sides in the world are quite similar, so it comes down to the last ball or the last over. The younger guys, after being in these situations, will know better in bigger occasions how to deal with such situations," McKenzie said.

McKenzie did not buy the common line that there is a lack of big hitters in Bangladesh.

"[Mahmudullah] Riyad just got 28 off 11 balls in the CPL," was McKenzie's way of disproving the notion.

"I think we can be very competitive not by getting the guys hitting more sixes but showcasing the talent of hitting more skilled shots. I'd like to turn around where a West Indian will miss, miss, six, six. I'd like to see a Bangladeshi guy go four, four, four. I am not too fazed by big sixes but by what's happening in between. We can get 12 off three good cricket shots and another one with talent and committing to certain areas," McKenzie said.

The right-hander, who along with Graeme Smith added a world record 415-run Test opening partnership against Bangladesh in 2008, was also optimistic about finding the missing puzzle piece that is Tamim Iqbal's opening partner.

"I am a fresh pair of eyes at the moment. You keep telling me these things. I haven't really thought about it like that. I want to give everyone their time to grow. I don't see there being any problem. I think [Liton] Das played a beautiful innings in the T20s [the third against West Indies]. Tamim got the most runs. I think getting 70 off five overs was a step in the right direction," he added.