CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh aim to retain their all-round aggression following their shock recent T20 series sweep over England and two thrashings of Ireland, coach Chan­dika Hathurusingha said on Sunday.

“Aggressive cricket... doesn’t mean we go and hit it as hard as we can. It’s aggressive in every sense of the word,” Hathurusingha said ahead of a three-match T20 series against Ireland from Monday.

“Our selection is aggressive, field placing, our body language, our fielding, batting. Tactically we’re going to be aggressive,” the Sri Lankan told reporters.

“We want to play the best way we can. I think when we play like that with an aggressive (approach) and with freedom, this team has always done well,” he added.

Earlier this month Bangladesh thrashed England 3-0, in their first ever series victory over the reigning T20 and One-day International world champions in any format.

They followed this up by beating Ireland 2-0 in a 50-over series, with rain saving the visitors from a likely third defeat after Bangladesh smashed 349-6, their highest ever ODI score.

But Hathurusingha said they were not taking anything for granted ahead of the T20 series against Ireland, which is followed by a one-off Test — Ireland’s fourth ever — in early April.

“No cricket match is easy. If we think that way, that’s going to bite us,” said Hathurusingha, who returned as Bangladesh coach in February.

“We learned that very early in our careers. That’s why we love this game. We treat every opposition as the same. We respect them, but we never fear them. That’s the mantra we had,” he said.

While admitting that the series would be a “great challenge”, Ireland coach Heinrich Malan — pointing to Afghanistan’s first ever T20 win over Pakistan last week — said anything can happen.

“The shorter the format, the more a team is in the game. I guess that’s the exciting part about T20 cricket,” the South African told reporters in Chittagong.

“We have shown over a period that we can play some good T20 cricket, so hopefully we can adapt quickly to these conditions,” he said.

“I think the boys have got a better understanding about what to expect. Hopefully we can go out there and put up a good show.”

Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie will be rested for the T20 series will be replaced by vice-captain Paul Stirling.

“We flagged before the tour that there may be an element of player rotation this year due to the anticipated volume of cricket we will be playing,” Malan said in statement.

“I see it is an essential part of squad and player management that we give our leading players adequate down time for their physical and mental health.”

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2023