His explanation, due to his confident nature, was simple: with the field up and a maximum of three fielders outside the 30-yard circle, the singles get cut off as the batsmen wouldn’t risk a run-out with six to seven fielders inside the circle. That would force them to look for boundaries and try lofted shots, giving the bowler every chance of picking up wickets.

Not surprisingly, it is a common sentiment among bowlers (especially those who back themselves to do the job). In domestic one-day cricket, batsmen are less inclined to take risks for a number of reasons that vary from the prevailing club culture to the batsman’s effort to secure his immediate future in the team.

Ever since the option of batting Powerplay became available, mid-level clubs decided that it was best not to mess with it while the top clubs are still having trouble making full use of it. From the batsmen’s point of view, taking ‘unnecessary’ risks would risk his future in the team and frankly, who would want the official barking at him after getting out?

It seems that this defensive mindset has made its way to the Tigers dressing-room and by the looks of it, is here to stay. No matter what happens, they seem to be happy keeping the batting Powerplay “for later use”, as if they will bash 80 or 90 runs from the last five overs. But the reality is that they hardly ever make full use of it and sometimes, end up being forced to take it. There are also occasions that the Tigers have gone through a one-day win without taking the batting Powerplay. As coach Jamie Siddons said during the series, the cricket played in the Powerplay (both batting and bowling) was one of his main concerns apart from his batsmen’s strike-rate.

Evidently, these two factors – Powerplay and strike-rate — are closely related and if one is to explain the failings of the Tigers during the five-over field restrictions designed as a massive advantage to the batsmen, it is easy to point towards the strike-rates.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is on top of Bangladesh’s all-time list of highest strike-rates, scoring his runs at 86.03 per 100 balls while the second in that list is Aftab Ahmed (83.04). Since Mashrafe and Aftab are the only players to score at a strike-rate of above 80, it can be used as a standard for batsmen from Bangladesh while the world-standard would definitely be above 95.

Even Mohammad Rafique, famous for his big-hitting, struck at 77.1 per hundred balls. But definitely, he provided the impetus late in the innings and in the course of his 106 one-day innings for Bangladesh between 1995 and 2007, Rafique kept a strike-rate of over 80 in 36 outings and in 22 innings, it was above the 100-mark. Even more impressive is the fact that out of his eleven innings that was above 30 runs, his strike-rate dipped below 100 only three times.

Sadly, he was never around when the Powerplay was a batting team’s option (it became a rule in October 2008) because Rafique would have really enjoyed that.

But those who could enjoy this have miserably failed to do so. Mashrafe has certainly seen his batting stocks fall over the years and since Rafique’s retirement when he should have taken the mantle as the late-order hitter, he maintained a 72.52 strike-rate with a highest score of 38.

Some would think that since Mashrafe was never a genuine batsmen, the onus would fall on the likes of Naeem Islam and Mahmudullah Riyad but the pair has also not done much apart from a good knock here and there. With a career strike-rate of 64.2 and 68.2 respectively, Bangladesh don’t exactly have the best option for lower-order hitting but neither Naeem nor Riyad are bashers. They are genuine top and middle-order batsmen who are now asked to adopt a different game that is probably getting the better of them.

Naeem has always had the knack of hitting the big ones but as a proper batsman, the right-hander is sometimes all or nothing. Out of his top three scores in one-day cricket, his strike-rate has been above 80 just once, while Riyad has batted 40 times in the lower-order and 10 times above that.

It is also true that some of their effort to rebuild after the top-order has collapsed would hurt their overall strike-rate, but now things have changed somewhat. Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes and Shakib Al Hasan have almost regularly provided a good platform for those who bat in the last ten overs, the time when Bangladesh usually take their Powerplay.

Some say that it is important to have the right attitude to bat in the slog overs. Batsmen have to be unselfish and must have the adventurous spirit in them to throw the bat around, and at the same time, not think about giving away their wicket. Definitely it is hard for batsmen trying to cement a place in the team to have that sort of attitude so it falls on the tail-enders but Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam and Sohrawardi Shuvo all have strike-rate below the 80 mark.

A way out of this would be for the Tigers think-tank to give the batsmen assurance that they would be continued for a while even if they fail to hit out in the late overs.

The best place to make a new start to the Powerplay and strike-rate philosophy would be the National Cricket League one-dayers and it is hoped that the Tigers would be the ones taking the initiative.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has prepared the draft itinerary of Zimbabwe tour to Bangladesh, which is expected to get the approval in the board of directors meeting today.

During the 19-day trip, Zimbabwe will play a one-day warm-up game on October 25 and a four-dayer against Bangladesh A on November 7-10 at Mirpur besides five ODIs.

The first three one-day internationals will take place at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on October 27, 29 and 31 while the remaining two games will be held on November 3 and 5 at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium.

The Tigers then will play a tri-nation series involving India and Sri Lanka at home that will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur from January 4 to January 13 next year.

The tri-nation tournament will be followed by a two-match Test series against India. The first Test is scheduled for January 17 to January 21 at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium while the second Test will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur from January 24 to January 28.

Bangladesh’s next away series is in New Zealand in February 10 to 19 where the Tigers will play one Test and three one-day internationals besides a T20 game but the schedule is yet to be confirmed.

England will tour to Bangladesh to play three one-day warm-up matches against BCB XI, three ODIs, one 3-day warm-up match against Bangladesh A and two Tests from February 17 to March 25.

After the series Bangladesh will fly for West Indies to play the ICC World T20 in April-May. Bangladesh has been pitted in a group with Australia and Pakistan.

In 2010, Bangladesh cricket team will also visit England to play one one-day warm-up game, two three-dayers, one four-day, three ODIs and two Tests from May 6 to June 17.

‘Being number one team in South Asia is our first goal and I hope Dido has all the capabilities to achieve that.’

Dido was realistic about his aspirations while talking to reporters after signing the deal.

How do you feel about the new challenge?
Happy to be officially appointed as the Bangladesh national coach. Well, I am not an unknown person to Bangladesh footballers as I was the coach of Vietnam when Bangladesh played against them in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, back n 2001. I have become Bangladesh coach as a continuation of the relationship. I had been involved with Asian football for a while and hope I will be successful in raising the level of Bangladesh football.

What are your plans at the moment?
My immediate job will be to prepare the national team for the AFC Challenge Cup, to be held in April, after that I will work with the long-term plans but before that I want to sit with my backroom staff with the main focus on the U-23 national team and other jobs. I also hope to help the local coaches, and exchange views on the concept of modern football so that they can also develop, we need to impart the basics to the young boys so that they can develop and turn into good football players.

What are the shortcomings of the players of Asia?
I have observed a number of bad habits like when you are not in the game you don’t maintain the routine of a footballer and not taking the ideal preparation for committing yourself as a true professional, it my duty to make sure the Bangladesh footballers are out of it.

Say something about your coaching method
Well, I have a Brazilian background with a mixture of Dutch football, I like to work with all two, and for me football is not all about tactics and system, I believe in winning and for that you have to play offensive football. My method is for offensive football, you have to have the best defence which will be attacking, but the most important thing is to reach these goals, you have to educate your players.

What about motivation?
Motivating the players is important; players must think that they have the abilities to be top players, not to be afraid of anyone in the world, just believe in what they are capable of doing, it is a long way to change the player’s mentally and changing their behaviour. A coach has to think about the culture also because you can’t change the culture.

On Bangladesh players
I have seen a group of talented players but I feel their physical condition should be better as physical condition is very important to reach the upper level; you can’t separate physical condition and good standards of football.

Do you have the proper infrastructure?
Infrastructure is not always the solution, you need proper planning and implementation, I have not seen all football infrastructure of Bangladesh but I will definitely ask the federation what I require. I am not afraid of taking up the challenge for I have seen teams with almost nothing but they succeeded in raising their level.