The Bangladesh national cricket team’s preparation camp for the upcoming T20I series against the Netherlands will now take place in Sylhet, after initially being scheduled in Dhaka. The decision to shift the skills portion of the camp was confirmed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday, August 3.
The Netherlands is expected to arrive on August 14 for a three-match T20I series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, serving as part of Bangladesh’s build-up to the 2025 Asia Cup.
Fitness in Dhaka, Skills in Sylhet
Bangladesh’s camp will begin on August 6 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, focusing initially on fitness training under the guidance of trainer Nathan Keily. However, the skills segment of the camp will take place in Sylhet once the coaches arrive in the country.
“The camp will begin in Dhaka on 6th August. Everyone will arrive and it will start with fitness training,” said BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Nazmul Abedin. “However, before the start of the skills training part, the camp will move to Sylhet. The coaches will begin to arrive around the 11th, 12th, or 13th.”
He further confirmed: “We are hoping to move the camp to Sylhet. The team will train there for a few days. Then, we will play the series against the Netherlands there.”
Bangladesh Camp Focuses on Batting Culture and Mentality
With batting being a key concern in recent performances, Bangladesh are aiming to address those issues during this preparation period. Sohel Islam, the head coach of Bangladesh Tigers and mentor to several national players, emphasized that cultural factors have contributed to batting inconsistencies.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔,” 𝑺𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑰𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑨 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 — 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 — 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅.”
Sohel emphasized the need for greater mental toughness and higher performance standards. “Scoring big runs and making back-to-back centuries — these are habits,” he said. “It’s not like if you score two centuries in one Test, you won’t be able to score in the next.”
Nurturing Consistency in Mindset
The coach also revealed a recent conversation with star batter Najmul Hossain Shanto, who failed to capitalize on back-to-back centuries in Galle when playing the Colombo Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka.
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐,” 𝑺𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅. “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎.”
Sohel concluded by emphasizing the shift in training philosophy: “We’re trying to train players to be hungry. If your average is 50, that’s acceptable. If you play two Tests on batting-friendly wickets, it should be around 80. That’s the mindset we’re instilling — and the players are responding.”
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