Whatmore sees a Tennekoon in Tharanga

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore compared Sri Lanka's new 20-year-old opener Upul Tharanga to former Sri Lanka captain Anura Tennekoon.

"I would describe him as having a lazy elegance about him. He's got a touch of Anura Tennekoon," said Whatmore at the conclusion of the three-match one-day international series, which Sri Lanka won 3-0.

"I remember his face but he was then an absolute youngster. He looks as if has a very strong desire to play in the side and he could be a very good player. He fields pretty well too," observed the coach who guided Sri Lanka to win the World Cup nine years ago.

An elegant left-hander Tharanga broke into the national team during the Indian Oil series last month. In the recently concluded series against Bangladesh Tharanga won the Man-of-the-Series award for scores of 60, 105 and 9.

Tennekoon was Sri Lanka's most prolific run-getter in the pre-Test era. A right-hander he had immense powers of concentration coupled with a rock solid defence.

Another aspect of Sri Lanka cricket which Whatmore had noticed was the promotions of players like Dilhara Lokuhettige and Farveez Maharoof, bowlers who could bowl, bat and field well.

"That is an area which has been lacking in Sri Lankan cricket particularly when they go abroad," said Whatmore. "Pitches don't spin as much as at home so you need these sorts of boys to be able to be part of an attack that suit the conditions. This is an area there is a significant change from when I was around."

Whatmore who has been the coach of Bangladesh for the past four years said Sunday was probably the lowest point of his career when Bangladesh was shot out for a paltry 108 on a perfect batting pitch.

"I was more disappointed than most of the games. We knew it was going to be tough. In the first couple of matches we were okay. We got beaten but we tried to do things properly. Today it was bitterly disappointing," said Whatmore. "Most of us thought we would get 250 on the board the way the boys batted in the first eight overs. But the way in which they threw their wickets away, it was bitterly disappointing."

"Cricket is a game of accepting opportunities. First you create them. I thought we did particularly well in the first game. But if you don't capitalize and then take those opportunities you make your job a lot harder. In our case there were two opportunities, which we couldn't take. To me it is painfully obvious it is the difference between the two teams," said Whatmore.

Another area, which Bangladesh fell short, was when they were under pressure.

"Being able to play under a little bit of pressure and being able to execute a skill whether it's a catch, a run out, a run or a particular way of bowling you can do it in the nets when there is not much pressure," stated Whatmore.

"But when you are up against a good team it is the inability to do that consistently, which makes the difference between not just Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but also a few associate countries as well when they play full member countries," he said.

He said Bangladesh had the ingredients and that it will definitely happen, but when it will happen he couldn't give a definite answer.

Whatmore that his philosophy hadn't changed much and that the scoreline of 3-0 wasn't an issue for him.

"For me it is more of how you play the game individually and how you react to situations. The 3-0 scoreline is probably what everyone expected. We will try and be as competitive as possible in the longer version of the game," he said.

Bangladesh plays a three-day practice game at the Colombo Colts grounds starting tomorrow before going into the two-Test series against Sri Lanka on Monday.