Dubai – Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo believes his team can exploit the Proteas traditional weakness against high quality spin in their ICC T20 World Cup clash in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Domingo, of course, knows South African cricket intimately having been the Proteas' head coach from 2013 through to 2017, and previously having done his apprenticeship with the Warriors in the Eastern Cape prior to his promotion to the national team.
"Having worked with South Africa for a long time myself, we know that there's always a question mark regarding the way they play spin. Hopefully the conditions will help us a little bit tomorrow," Domingo told reporters on Monday.
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"There are certain areas that we'll look to exploit and look to focus on when we play against them. We've had some good discussions and some good meetings this morning to go over some of our plans for tomorrow."
Domingo certainly has plenty of South African intelligence within his coaching team. Another former Proteas coach Ottis Gibson is the team's bowling consultant, while former Proteas batter and Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince is the batting consultant. Fellow South African Ryan Cooke is also the fielding consultant.
Unfortunately this South African contingent has not been able ignite the Tigers' spark as they have endured a miserable T20 World Cup campaign here in the UAE. To compound matters they have now also lost star all-rounder Shakib ul-Hasan to injury, which greatly affects the make-up of the Bangladeshi team.
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"It's obviously a big loss for the balance of this side. Just balancing the side without him, when he's not there you go in either batsman light or bowler light. You might have to play a part-time bowler.
"But also in terms of his leadership and the calmness that he brings around the environment in pressure situations, that aspect will be lost. But it does provide an opportunity for someone new to maybe make his first World Cup appearance, and we've got to see that as a positive for whoever that young player is going to."
Bangladesh may be out of contention for a place in the playoffs, but will certainly be playing with plenty of pride in a bid to unsettle the Proteas' new-found momentum.
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"I think every single game we play to win, and we know there's obviously an obsession with winning and a disappointment when you don't win," he said.
"I think our focus is very much on our process and how we've got to go about trying to achieve that win. Of course everybody, every single game they play, we're trying to win. But if you are just focussing on that, you maybe lose track of the things you need to do well in order to get that win.
"So I think tomorrow's Tuesday's game in particular we need to focus on our particular skills, our processes, the disciplines you want to try to and bring into the game. If you do that, hopefully the result goes all right."
IOL Sport