Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach of Khulna Titans, on Thursday said he was optimistic that his team would perform well in the latest edition of Bangladesh Premiere League (BPL).
Titans started their preparation camp earlier in the day, only a day before BPL is scheduled to kick off.
“We have to take one game at a time,” Jayawardene said.
“We played good cricket [last year], but unfortunately, we couldn’t get through from the playoffs. Hopefully, we can go a bit further this time,” said the coach.
Last season, Khulna finished third in the points table with seven wins in 12 matches in the league phase. Mahmudullah Riyad was their key player.
Jayawardene said that the team’s mindset was different this time.
“We rely on team effort. We had a good season last year. Guys were all contributing. We still feel that we can win matches if we perform well as a unit,” he said.
Khulna have Lasith Malinga, Carlos Brathwaite and Brendon Taylor, along with Mahmudullah Riyad and Taijul Islam.
They also roped in Ali Khan, a USA cricketer, who impressed in several T20 leagues around the globe. The coach was optimistic about him.
“We are excited to have him and Lasith together. He can learn as well. Ali is quite exciting. He has just started the leagues, so he is inexperienced in that manner. He is quite keen to learn from Bangladeshi conditions and quality opposition. We are glad to have him in the Titans’ abode,” he added.
Although Khulna does not have many stars in their squad, coach Jayawardene is confident that the local players will do well.
“The local guys are very good. We have had a look at them before buying them. We did our homework,” he said.
“I have seen what (Shariful) did in the Emerging Cup and Under-19s, which is why we bought him. It is also good to have someone like Taijul … It is encouraging for Khulna that we can produce players for Bangladesh,” Jayawardene added.
