T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh coach Domingo ignores external noise ahead of Super 12s

Sharjah: Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo on Saturday said efforts are being made to keep outside noise at bay in the wake of the feud between captain Mahmudullah and board president Nazmul Hasan following their shock defeat to Scotland in the T20 World Cup. Despite an opening day defeat to Scotland, Bangladesh qualified from the preliminary round to join the other heavyweights in the Super 12 stage. After clearing the qualifying hurdle, Mahmudullah took a swipe at Hasan after the board president’s strong remarks following the loss to Scotland. “I am just here to focus on the cricket. I can’t be too concerned what gets said outside of the team. My focus is to prepare the team well mentally and physically for tomorrow,’’ Domingo told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_8459691” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Russell Domingo. AFP[/caption] “When you are playing for Bangladesh, there’s always going to be criticism when things don’t go well. A big part of coaching is for the team to focus on what they can control. There’s nothing we can do about what people are writing and saying.” Domingo said the team has had long and hard discussion to focus on the game. “We can focus on our performances, we can evaluate our performances. Areas we feel we need to improve on. As soon as we worry about those types of things, it takes your focus away from what we need to focus on,” he said. Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka to begin their campaign in the Super 12 stage in Sharjah on Sunday. Speaking about the game, Domingo said he was aware of what their first Super 12 opposition is capable of. “I think we have played against Sri Lanka a bit over the last couple of months. We have had some good contests against them in ODIs and Tests. We have played against Hasaranga quite a bit over the last couple of months and we know what he is capable of,” he said. Domingo also said that the wicket at Sharjah was a pleasant sight for the team as it reminded them of the pitches recently used in Dhaka. “These type of conditions can suit us. Sharjah is similar to the wickets in Dhaka. Hopefully that can assist us in tomorrow’s game. “The scores have come down considerably since the new wickets have been laid. Tall bowlers who hit the wicket have always been in the game. I came here with South Africa with years ago.” He said if the bowlers bowl wicket-to-wicket, they can extract spin here. “We are not known as a power-hitting side so the (shorter boundary) could favour us. We are also happy with the 2pm start (UAE time). It suits us big time. It takes dew out of the equation.”