Shawdesh Desk:

Bangladesh’s ace all-rounder Sakib al Hasan on Thursday urged the team management to begin long term planning for the country’s national team in the wake of their crushing series defeat against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh suffered a humiliating 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in their first bilateral series after the World Cup in England, failing to put up any real competition throughout the series.

Sakib didn’t want to sugar coat the team’s poor show and felt that the team now needed to make long term plans to sustain their development from the past four years.

‘This series was very disappointing for us,’ Sakib told reporters in a dengue awareness programme at a school in Dhaka on Thursday.

‘Maybe the time has come for us to make plans for the next 3-4 years. I am sure that the officials in BCB are thinking about it. We have already appointed two new coaches. Maybe after the entire coaching staff gets together, they will propose a plan to the board.

‘If we can do it, I feel that our cricket will continue moving ahead from where it has reached in the last four years,’ he added.

The tour was always expected to be a challenging one for the Tigers, as they went to Sri Lanka without a number of their regular players in regular skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Mohammad Saifuddin, Sakib and Liton Das, for various reasons.

Many were still hopeful for a positive result in the series but the reality was very different, as the Lankan side outplayed Bangladesh in all three departments throughout the series.

The series also gave both fans and cricketers, who felt Bangladesh lost out on two certain points in the World Cup against Sri Lanka as their group-stage match got washed out, a reality check as Bangladesh were not guaranteed a  victory in the match, said Sakib.

‘Many were certain that we would get two points against them [Sri Lanka]. This series has proved it that a win there was not guaranteed. We could’ve won or lost,’ he said.

Sakib was also vocal about the need of players taking breaks from international cricket to recover from the physical and mental strain, further claiming that these breaks would help unearth new players suitable for the national team.

‘My personal thinking is that a player should only play when he is ready. When he is not ready, he shouldn’t play. It’s difficult to play if you are not completely fit. How much you are fit or unfit play a huge factor in performance.

‘It’s not possible for a player to keep on playing for such a long stretch. So these breaks are important. When these breaks come other players will get an opportunity. Pipeline players will also be created by this,’ said Sakib.

Tamim Iqbal’s torrid time with the bat in the World Cup continued in the Sri Lanka series, where he was entrusted with the captaincy role in absence of Mashrafee and the left-hander seemingly sunk under pressure, scoring only 21 runs in three innings.

Sakib, however, was confident that he can bounce back from this slump after taking a breather from cricket.

‘A player may go through a phase like this. I think the most important thing for him is to take a good rest, recover and get refreshed. Then make a strong comeback. I am sure he will do that,’ Sakib said.