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Old February 13, 2009, 05:04 AM
bdchamp20 bdchamp20 is offline
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Join Date: December 8, 2007
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Thumbs up My Stint with the Warriors

http://www.indiancricketleague.in/ne...20090211_1.xml
Quote:
Balvinder Sandhu

After coaching Chandigarh Lions in the first edition of the tournament, I was asked to guide Dhaka Warriors in the second edition of the tournament. With growing expectations and huge fan base, the ICL had managed to add one more international team – the Warriors. One has to be professional in competitive cricket, so despite forging a strong bond with the Lions, I was looking forward to my alliance with the team from Bangladesh as it was also the first time that an Indian coach was coaching an international team in the Indian Cricket League.

It did not take much time for my side to capture attention and as the tournament progressed, we were even considered as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. It has been a tremendous transition from being newcomers to reaching a stage where our presence and performance posed threat to the other strong contenders in the tournament.

Our successful run was the result of collective thinking, planning, team work and its proper execution. When the Bangladeshi boys first arrived in India, they were very weak physically due to fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Also, the players were off cricket for a few months and thus had no match practice. Our practice games in Hyderabad were mostly washed away and as a result we even lost out on preparation.

Breaking The Ice:
I knew the senior players in the side like skipper Habib-ul-Bashar, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Rafique, but did not know much about rest of them. I did my own homework and even called up a few acquaintances in Bangladesh to find out more about the guys. I had no doubts about the talent that these guys possessed and a few net sessions were enough to reaffirm my faith.

During our first meeting, I told them that our first goal would be to make it to the semi-finals. I asked them whether this would be possible and they answered in the affirmative. I also found out that there was a lot of insecurity among the players. They seemed tensed about their future and looked a little insecure. I tried my best to pep them up and told them to focus on the job at hand.

Getting In Shape:
Fitness was our major concern and even the players realized it. I had an excellent support staff in Leroy (physio) and John who was the sports and conditioning manager, even Mitch (messuer) was excellent. We communicated well and it eased the job. The bowlers needed to get their rhythm back, so the net sessions involved lots of target bowling. I addressed the issues and told them to forget the critics and focus only on the performance. The only way to prove the critics wrong is by playing well and winning matches. I told them that public opinion will change once we start winning and even the Bangladesh Cricket Board will change its approach and realize the mistake of banning its players.

The message was drilled into their minds. The boys promised that they will perform with alot of intensity and that they will go all out and play exciting cricket and create a new fan-base. They lived up to it and I feel very proud that my boys worked very hard and played in an exciting fashion. In just one week’s time, the Dhaka Warriors played quality and attacking cricket and we worked hard towards achieving the goal I mentioned earlier.

Kapali’s century and plans for next tourney:

Alok Kapali’s scintillating century against Hyderabad Heroes’ was a shot in the arm. It put pressure on the opposition and even gave a major boost to the ICL TRP ratings. Very seldom do you see a century in this format and it is a matter of pride for us that our team member hit the first century of the ICL. We missed out on qualifying for the semis but never once were we disappointed, for we played to the best of our skills and worked hard but lost to Lahore Badshahs. We lost four games but from those four, three were very close. So it was a matter of luck which was not on our side.

For the upcoming season, the pressure will be on us to perform consistently. At the top level you cannot afford to relax. The expectations are much higher. We won’t let the game slip from our grip this time around. We have learnt from our mistakes and I am sure that the boys will return much wiser and you will see even better results from the Dhaka Warriors in the upcoming tournament.
A very entertaining read. I highlighted the bits i found particularly interesting
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