Desk Report:
He speaks less, most of the time with a serious expression. Although his movements and speech are Caribbean, the influence of British culture is enough. Quietly, Phil Simmons can sometimes seem not only a coach, but also a cricket philosopher. He seems to believe in the philosophy of ‘less talk, more action’.
In the eyes of Minhajul Abedin Nannu, who came to this year’s Asia Cup as a member of the ACC Technical Committee, Phil Simmons is a very ‘soft’ coach. One day in a chat in Abu Dhabi, Nannu was saying that Simmons is not as ‘tough’ as Chandika Hathurusingha or Dave Whatmore. According to him, it is difficult for such a soft coach to do well in Bangladesh’s cricket culture, but rather a ‘straight-forward’ coach like Hathuru is more likely to succeed in everything.
Simmons was appointed as the head coach of the Bangladesh team last October by the then president Farooq Ahmed after sacking Hathuru. Simmons had to rely more on senior assistant coach Salahuddin to get to know the players better in the first five-six months. In the last year or so, ‘Simo’ has had a pretty heavy run of success. He has won four T20 series—against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies. Two of them were away series. He started the Super Four in the Asia Cup by defeating Sri Lanka.
No matter what the team does in the match, he sits quietly behind the dugout most of the time. After winning against Sri Lanka, Simmons had a smile on his face. In the pre-match press conference, the Bangladesh coach said about controlling his emotions, ‘I try to control my emotions as much as possible. We did not come to the Asia Cup just to beat Sri Lanka. We came here to win the tournament. I have to keep everyone calm in the dressing room.’
The issue of winning the tournament is later; Bangladesh has a big challenge to face today. The opponent is India, who are playing as hot favorites in this tournament. In the past few days, all the Bangladeshi fans I have spoken to in Dubai have agreed that it will be difficult to beat the great India. Although Simmons believes that every team has the ability to beat India, ‘Everyone has the ability to beat India. This is a specific match. India has not lost before, that is not the case. We will try to play our best cricket and pay attention to how to make India make mistakes. That is how we have to win.’
Although India is a strong opponent, playing against this team creates a different kind of enthusiasm and excitement among the Bangladeshi fans. Simmons believes that they will be able to repay the fans’ love and trust, ‘To win, you have to have faith. We can beat India, we have that chance. We got a break after the Sri Lanka match. We have to use that break. We have a chance to win against India.’
Most teams think that if they want to chase runs successfully in the Asia Cup, it is better to win the toss and bowl. In that case, Bangladesh captain Liton Das is quite lucky. Every decision he made after winning the toss in three matches worked. Bangladesh won. However, Simmons does not think the toss will be a big deal in Dubai. Both the batter and the bowler will have equal chances on the Dubai wicket.
However, Simmons is a bit annoyed with Bangladesh’s schedule. After a three-day break, they have two consecutive matches against India and Pakistan in hot conditions like Dubai. The schedule that they have to play as B-2 in the Super Four is fixed before the tournament. However, the Bangladesh coach did not hide his annoyance with the consecutive schedule in the pre-match press conference, ‘Playing two consecutive T20s or ODIs is very difficult. It is not good. But again, we have prepared. I think they are fit enough to play two consecutive matches. But playing two consecutive T20s does not look good for any team. It is very difficult.’ Bangladesh will have to win this difficult match to win the tournament.
