Bangladesh national team coach Dav Whatmore described wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud Pilot as the best player behind the stumps in the sub-continent.
Speaking at a ceremony, organised by the Paramount Insurance Company Ltd to honour the three centurions for Bangladesh in the first Test against the West Indies at St. Lucia in the recently-concluded Caribbean tour, Whatmore also described Mashud’s hundred as long overdue.
“We always felt he wasn’t getting enough runs for us and he finally did it this time,” said the burly Australian, who regretted for not being there to witness the landmark because of an unscheduled departure.
Whatmore was not short of praise for skipper Habibul Bashar. “He has a batting technique which only belongs to him and every time he gets set we know he is going to get runs, and get them quickly,” said the burly coach. “However, he has 18 fifties, and in the future we would like to see them converted into hundreds more often,” added Whatmore.
Whatmore turned tongue-n-cheek when speaking on Rafique.
“I am a specialised batsman and in seven Tests for Australia my top score was 78. Rafique is a bowler who bats at number nine and has a hundred. I am scared the next time I give him any batting tip he is not going to take me seriously,” Whatmore joked.
Whatmore reserved a few words for stand-in manager Faruque Ahmed. “Every time we changed venues we entered a new country. Without pointing fingers, West Indies is not an easy place to tour and we don’t know what we would have done without Farque.”
On the Bangladesh team, Whatmore said they realised that they should have won one more of the six competitive one-day matches (Bangladesh won one match against Zimbabwe) they played in the two previous tours put together. “We also hope to achieve the elusive Test victory very soon,” added Whatmore.
Paramount Insurance Company Ltd. gave away a check for Tk. 30,000 to Habibul Bashar, Md. Rafique and Khaled Mashud as a part of ‘Golden Bat Awards’. Chairman of Paramount Shakhawat Hossain handed over the prizes. Vice-chairman Alock Das, Corporate Marketing Director Athar Ali and Bangladesh team manager Faruque Ahmed were also present on the occasion.
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