Parvez Emon, Tanzid Tamim have special net session at BCB academy

It was not business as usual at the BCB academy premises. There were new laws in place as the Bangladesh T20I batters joined a week-long training camp under the supervision of head coach Phil Simmons on Saturday (December 6).

Simmons, who had senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin and batting coach Mohammad Ashraful along with him during the session, spent a very busy time guiding openers Parvez Hossain and Tanzid Tamim. They were batting against bowling machines trying to play through the gaps of the offside without taking much of a risk, keeping the PowerPlay in mind.

A long net was set up on the offside for the left-handed batters with fielders placed in different position with batters trying to hit through the hole in between the fielders.

Bangladesh batters have drawn heavy criticism for their one-dimensional leg-side-dominated play in recent times and the practice session seemed like it was designed taking that into consideration.

Following the session, assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin told Cricbuzz that they have designed the training session keeping the two openers in mind as they have seen them lose their composure while earnestly trying to score quickly.

"Actually, this (trying to make sure they play through offside) was mainly for Emon and Tamim," said Salahuddin. "We always tend to over-hit and especially in the first six overs. But you can't always play big shots and expect to build a long innings. You have to use the bowler's pace too.

"When a bowler is bowling at 140, I don't need to over-hit. If I can just use the pace and find the gap, both shots will fly through cover. The same ball, if I hit it square or towards the point, might even give me two runs. So the idea is to show how to use the pace properly instead of just trying to hit everything hard and also how to develop themselves so they can pick up boundaries with lower risk, and improve their singles rotation," he added.

In the middle of the session the openers along with the coaches were busy seeing what Salahuddin had recorded on his mobile phone while Simmons was desperate to make sure Emon does not have a jerking stance and backlift.

Salahuddin insisted that they are consciously reminding Emon that if he is jerking too much during his stance and don't have a still backlift in that case he might have problem seeing the ball properly.

"No, no, every coach has their own theory but when he (Emon) was jerking like that, his head was moving a lot and when the head moves too much, you can't see the ball clearly," said Salahuddin.

"The first rule is simple - the better you see the ball, the better decisions you make. The worse you see it, the worse your decisions become. That's very basic. So the more up and down movement you have, the more trouble you'll have judging the ball. That's one reason," he said.

"The second thing is, sometimes it breaks the synchronization. When you move too much, the bat may still be down while the ball has already arrived. But if he stays a little more still, a little steadier, he can synchronize his movements better," he said.

Salahuddin added that they will be monitoring the batters during the upcoming BPL while added that they are trying to get the most out of their batters during this small window.

"There's really no end to improvement. And normally, you often say that we have shortcomings in our skill sets. But we rarely get the time to work on those because of the packed international schedule and the constant matches the boys have to play. So we don't really get the opportunity to improve," said Salahuddin.

"Since we've finally got a window now, the aim is to help the batters sharpen their skills a bit more. Especially in T20s, where sometimes we play good shots but they still end up going straight to the fielder. How to find the gaps, how to use the ball, how to use the pace-these are things we will work on. And also how to develop themselves so they can pick up boundaries with lower risk, and improve their singles rotation," he added.

Salahuddin said the coaching group will continue monitoring the players during the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League, country's lone franchise-based T20I tournament.

"We'll work on those areas over these few days. If they can develop these skills even a little and apply them in the BPL, that will be satisfying for us and it may also help us in the World Cup," he said.

"We'll keep an eye on every aspect - their mental state, their physical condition, their technical work - everything needs to be monitored. We have to assess exactly where each player stands (before the T20I World Cup)," he concluded.