We've got the luxury of depth in our fast bowling: Shaun Tait

Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait is optimistic about his team's chances in the upcoming Asia Cup. Bangladesh won three T20I series in a row leading to the continental tournament. During an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz Tait opened up about his coaching philosophy and much more. Here are the excerpts.

How are the pacers responding at the moment?

Look, it's been enjoyable working with them. That's what I know. I think they bowled pretty well in that last series. And we won the last two T20 series so that's fresh in my mind. And I thought the pacers did a good job. I think we needed to improve with the new ball. And I think we did that, you know, with the new ball in the Pakistan series we were better than we were at Sri Lanka. So, there are some improvements there. I think we've got a good stock of fast bowlers at the moment in Bangladesh, so that's a positive, I think.

You are always talking about Bangladeshi pacers - Shoriful, Nahid Rana. You are also talking about the rotation policy. How do you see the rotation policy going forward, and how much does it help as a unit?

Look, I must say, I have to be honest, I don't have a very strong opinion on rotation. I think it's almost a day-by-day thing in my mind. I just, you know how the players are feeling. And ultimately, it's what the captain wants going forward as well. And I think when you have a depth of fast bowling you've got a bit more freedom to do that (rotation). If you don't have the depth in your fast bowling, then you've got less freedom to rotate, I guess. Now, there's always going to be controversy around rotation, because if you lose matches and you've been rotating, you'll hear from the media about that (laughs). And people will get frustrated, which is just normal. It's normal. Look, our next big thing is the Asia Cup. So, I think if there's days between games, I think the captain's going to want to play his first pick team in that Asia Cup, I think.

Do you think that Bangladesh have the flexibility of rotation because they've got some depth in the bowling?

A little bit, yes. I think a little bit, definitely. I think we've got the guys, even the guys outside the squad, even...

Ebadot, Hasan or Khaled?

Ebadot, Khaled, Hasan Mahmud - I think any of those three could easily walk into the T20 team, in my opinion. They can walk into the 50-over team as well. So, I think we do have a luxury right now. Without being too confident, we do have a luxury of depth in our fast bowling, which is fantastic for me. For me, coming in as fast bowling coach, it's a great job to be in right now. And, I think once we get it right and then you get that good rhythm of rotation properly. You know, Taskin is coming back from injury. He's just getting back to his best. And I think when you have coming back from injury, for example, you can rotate a little bit just to make sure that they're staying in the right, you know. They're not playing all the games straight away and then getting reinjured again. Someone like Taskin - he can play one game and miss the next one, and then we can get him back from his injury a little bit in a better way, you know.

You want players to stick to their strength, rather not trying six deliveries in the over. How do you explain this thing? What does the player's minds goes through when, when he has a lot of options in his hand, does he always think of having different options for different balls? Or you think that he should be bowling to strength?

Well, I tend to believe that now, if you talk about T20 cricket and all the leagues and stuff, all the bowlers are very eager to showcase all the different deliveries they can bowl, but at the end of the day, the scores remain the same. The score depends in what part of the world you're playing. If you talk about India, scores are consistently above 200. And the bowlers have all these different deliveries, but the scores are still increasing. So, I just think, for this team, for me, I've just been sort of talking a lot about trusting your strengths and trusting that if you keep working on your strengths more and more and you produce them in games, it's going to work out okay. It's going to be okay. I mean, if we're spending all of our time working on six different deliveries and then we're coming into the death overs and we're trying to bowl a different ball every single ball and change the field every single ball, we're just getting very confused. And I think that's what we've done a little bit in the past. So, you know, watching Bangladesh on television, trying to bowl all these different deliveries rather than... Right, let's identify what our strengths are and let's be really ruthless at the death in executing what our strengths are. And that's sort of what I've been talking to the guys about a little bit. And I guess we have got to get some real buy-in at the death from the bowlers. And I'd like to think after the World Cup next year, we can be properly judged on our death bowling.

Your captain mentioned that death bowling is a concern. Do you feel that way or you do feel that these guys just need to understand their roles a bit better?

I think a bit of both. I think we did some in the 50 over games we played actually in Sri Lanka, we bowled really well at death in a couple of those games.

But in T20s?

I just think in the 50 over games that actually we bowled, there was some signs of some really good death bowling. And then carrying over into T20s were a little bit mixed. We had some good performances and then we went away from it a little bit in Pakistan as well. So, it's sort of 50-50 at the moment. We're doing a good job and we're improving but it needs to continue. And I think when I took this job, or since I've been in the job, I think probably a large percentage of my focus with the bowlers has been the death. In our training that the boys have been quite diligent with their death bowling improving and we've had a lot of discussions around it. So, it's definitely a focus for us. And yeah, Litton is right. It's a focus.

You have worked here before with the BPL side or other sides. How does it really help because you know most of them?

Yeah, it does help because I've worked in Bangladesh in the past. I sort of have built relationships with a few of the players already. And it made joining the team so much easier. And I've got a good relationship with them, and that's important. So, it was a job, I think couple of years ago even, there was some talk certainly in the media in Bangladesh, that I might be a chance of taking the job and for whatever reasons over time it hasn't really worked out, but I guess this time it has worked out. So, it was always a job I was very interested in having. And it's been a few years in the making, I think. And look, I've really enjoyed it so far, I've got to say. And it is the perfect time to work with that group because of the depth of the bowling, and I had already worked with them in the BPL and all that stuff. It just sort of worked out really perfectly. And to be honest, right now, there's no other job I'd rather be in than the one I'm in right now with these folks. It has been really enjoyable so far. So, hopefully it continues on.

Bangladesh had won a lot of bilateral series in the past. Do you think that Bangladesh needs a global tournament?

Yes, I do.

Do you feel that would take it next step?

Yeah. I don't think you can hide away from that fact. I really think this group... There's obviously a process to everything. And I understand the processes behind everything. But I think this group of players really needs for a trophy. And I'm not going to say we're going to walk in and win the World Cup tomorrow. I know that's probably unrealistic, but I definitely think, over the next few years, competing in those Asia Cups, in the big bilateral series, competing in World Cups, it is definitely the next step for Bangladesh. Because, like I said, some of these guys, Taskin, Fizz, these guys... when you look back at their career, you want to win big matches. And I think this group's ready for that, definitely. That's what I'd like to be a part of with, with this group of players.

Have you seen this kind of hunger in them?

Absolutely. 100%... Like, just talking to these guys, especially guys like Taskin at the stage of his career now... just desperate to make a stance on the world cricket scene, to be honest. You know, obviously Bangladesh, where we're ranked at the moment is sort of, for these players, a little bit unacceptable. And I guess when you see the talent in the group it's all well and good to keep talking about talent. You can talk about talent, you can talk about development and you can do that for years and years. You can talk about rebuilding. But at some point, you must win. And, and I'm not saying you can just walk in now and beat the big teams. That's very difficult. But you've got to win games. And, and right now where we sit, we just beat Sri Lanka in a T20 series, and we just beat Pakistan in a T20 series. That's a great start. The next step is to get to an Asia Cup and beat those teams again. That's the way I see it. It's international cricket. I mean, look, there's definitely a part of this Bangladesh group that's still developing, definitely. I understand that completely. But for everybody, for the media, for the fans, for the BCB, winning those big matches a bit more consistently has got to be so important. And I believe that's the way it in international cricket.