Head Coach Simmons Reflects on Pakistan Whitewash: “Disappointed but Not Discouraged”

Following Bangladesh’s 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series against Pakistan on their home turf, head coach Phil Simmons didn’t shy away from expressing his disappointment in the post-series press conference. However, he also chose to highlight several positives from the tour.

“Losing any series is disappointing,” said Simmons. “But this team is still a work in progress, with many young players. So while it’s frustrating, the disappointment isn’t as deep as it would be with a fully settled side.”

Missing Mustafiz and Taskin Hurt Us

Simmons acknowledged that Bangladesh's pace attack struggled during the series and pointed out the absence of senior bowlers Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed as a key reason.

“Any team would miss someone like Mustafiz. His skill set suits these kinds of pitches, and his absence was definitely felt. Nahid is still very young and inexperienced in T20s. Then we lost Shariful due to injury in the second match. It made things very difficult.”

Eyes on Improvement Before Sri Lanka Test Series

With a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka coming up, Simmons stressed the need for quick improvement.

“There are two Tests before the white-ball series. We’ve got work to do. We need to improve. The batting was much better today — it’s finally where we wanted it. So things are starting to come together.”

Middle Order Woes & Shamim’s Form

Bangladesh’s middle order came under fire after repeated failures in the series. When asked about Shamim Patwari’s poor form, Simmons urged patience.

“You can’t judge a player based on just one series. Look at Saim Ayub — he wasn’t in form before, and now he’s bounced back. Others need time too.”

A Shining Light: The Opening Partnership

Despite the series defeat, Simmons was optimistic about one key takeaway — the opening partnership between Tanzid Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon.

“The biggest positive has been our opening pair. Today we saw how destructive they can be when they click. We’ll continue working on getting our pacers to adapt better to these kinds of pitches. In Bangladesh, we usually don’t get surfaces like this, so our bowlers need to learn how to approach these conditions effectively.”