Chandika Hathurusingha crowns India as 'best team', exposes gap with Pakistan, Bangladesh

Bangladesh National Cricket Team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha showered rich praise on the India National Cricket Team, labeling them as the best after the conclusion of the two-match Test series.

India continued their home domination and won the record-extending 18th consecutive Test series at home. It was a terrific display from the hosts as they completely outplayed the Bangla Tigers in both matches.

India Demolish Bangladesh In Test Series

India won the first Test by 280 runs and the second Test by 7 wickets. The second Test win was quite a special one for India as they managed to finish the match inside four and a half days, despite two and a half days being abandoned due to rain, wet outfield, and bad light.

India displayed an ultra-aggressive approach with the bat, hitting the fastest 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 in Test cricket history. In the end, they got a small 95-run target, which they chased easily.

The 0-2 defeat at the hands of India, left Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha dejected. He said that they were not prepared to deal with the attacking approach of the Indian team.

"The defeat is really hurting us in terms of our performance. (India's approach) was really not seen before. All credit to Rohit and the Indian team for coming up with that approach, and making a match of it. We actually didn't react quick enough (to India's approach)," Hathurusingha said.

Chandika Hathurusingha also expressed disappointment over the batting performance of Bangladesh, saying that they need to improve a lot.

"Batting was disappointing in this series. Some players did well in the last series. We have not been performing to our potential in the last few series. One reason for the batting was the quality of the opposition. The skill level in display in this series was very high. We are taking a lot of learnings from this. This is the best team. Playing India in India is the toughest assignment. We know how much we need to improve," Chandika Hathurusingha added.

We came here after beating Pakistan but... - Chandika Hathurusingha

Chandika Hathurusingha further indirectly stated that the gap between India and their rivals Bangladesh and Pakistan is quite big. He said that Bangladesh had defeated Pakistan before the India series, and they saw a massive difference in the skill level in the series against the Rohit Sharma-led side.

"We came here after beating Pakistan but we knew that the challenges will be steep in India. It won't be a good thing if I attach our feeling into our performance. We didn't get too high on ourselves for winning in Pakistan, so we shouldn't go down too much after this result. We knew what we did well to win in Pakistan and we know what we couldn't do here to compete with these guys," he opined.

"I think we were completely outplayed in this series. I saw the difference in skill levels, so we need to improve. Having said that, we didn't play to our best potential. We are disappointed with it. There's no point putting pressure on every individual player and their every decision in the middle, if we are not getting the right support," Chandika Hathurusingha added.

As far as I know, he is playing the South Africa series - Chandika Hathurusingha on Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan had recently confirmed his retirement from Test cricket, saying that the Kanpur Test would be his last if he is not allowed to play against South Africa at home due to security reasons. Chandika Hathurusingha, meanwhile, said that he has heard that Shakib Al Hasan will feature in the Test series against South Africa. He said:

"I haven't heard anything to say that this is the last time (that Shakib is playing). As far as I know, he is playing the South Africa series. I think succession plans are always there, especially at this stage of his career. We are all surprised that he said that (South Africa) is his last series. You are not getting like-for-like replacement for someone like Shakib."