Bangladesh’s New Coach Phil Simmons Wants To ‘Win Next Few Tests’

Bangladesh’s newly-appointed head coach Phil Simmons on Saturday said the aim is to win next few Tests. After Chandika Hathurusinghe was suspended on disciplinary grounds by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday, West Indies cricket legend Phil Simmons has been appointed in his place.

Speaking at his first official press conference, Simmons said that he will make sure the focus of the team stays on cricket and not on outside events.

“[Keeping distractions away from the players] is a big part of our job over the next few days, to make sure the focus is on the cricket, and not on the outside of cricket. We can control how we prepare for Monday, that’s how we are trying to get the team to focus,” Simmons was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

He added that if the Bengal Tigers win their upcoming Test matches then they will be in contention for the World Test Championship final.

“The good thing is we have a very important Test match to prepare for. We win the next few Tests, and we are in contention for the [WTC] final. My first port of call is cricket and about getting the squad ready for Monday. The last two days [of training] have been brilliant. We have tried to leave out the confusion that’s around the cricket, and concentrate on preparing for Monday,” he added.

Under Hathurusinghe’s tenure, the Bangladesh cricket team achieved a clean sweep against Pakistan in a two-match series held in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. His last assignment was in India, where the team played a two-match Test series and a three-match T20I series. Bangladesh lost the Test series 2-0 and the T20I series 3-0.

Bangladesh will take on South Africa in a two-match Test series, starting from October 21. The first game will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Meanwhile, Chattogram’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium will host the second Test from October 29.

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(With inputs from ANI)