Sports Desk:

Bangladesh’s newly appointed senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin said on Friday that he is eyeing to help his charges to make them think that they will dominate the world cricket in future.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appointed Salahuddin as the senior assistant coach of the men’s team.

His contract will run until 15 March next year while his first assignment will start with Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies, which begins with a four-day warm-up match in Antigua.

Salahuddin previously served as Bangladesh’s assistant and fielding coach under Dav Whatmore and Jamie Siddons.

He also worked as a specialist coach in the BCB’s national cricket academy from 2010 to 2011 before becoming Singapore’s head coach in 2014. He holds an ACC-Cricket Australia Level 3 accreditation.

“A coach’s job is to show a player the way. They will play on the ground. As a coach, I think this is the biggest challenge for me to make them think that they will dominate the world cricket in future to make changes to that thinking. Along with that, everyone will try to improve the technical and tactical side of the game,” Salahuddin said in a video statement.

Salahuddin added that he also wants to make a platform for local coaches.

“I have been hearing for a long time that the board will create a platform for local coaches. If I can pave the way in that regard, even if it’s for a short time, our local coaches might also do well. This will help build more trust from the board for future local coaches, and the confidence of the people and the nation will increase as well.

“Alongside that, the coach’s self-belief will grow, knowing that we can also perform well at the international level. I believe someone needed to take up this responsibility. If I can uphold this belief, it will open a bigger path for the next coaches. As a coach, I feel a significant responsibility has fallen on me to lead the way for the coaching community. I have taken this as a challenge,” he added.

“The talks had been going on for a while. I will give credit to Faruque bhai for this. He has called me a number of times and said it was necessary that I join the team. Also, it wasn’t like I wasn’t interested. But maybe I couldn’t come for some reasons. I think this was the best time to serve the Bangladesh team. I can use my experience on a broader platform.

“I worked here for five years before, that was a different generation. Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiq, Riyad, and Mashrafee were there. That generation gave a lot to the country and took it to a certain level. Now, if I can use my experience to help the next generation, it will be beneficial for the country and for those players as well. I will try to help the players from my experience, be it mentally, technically or tactically,” he said.