Whatmore defends minnows performance

Dav Whatmore on Thursday defended Bangladesh's standing as a Test playing nation and adding that the future looked "rosy".

World Cup winning coach Dav Whatmore on Thursday defended Bangladesh's standing as a Test playing nation and said the country's cricket future looked "rosy".

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Whatmore, who led Sri Lanka to World Cup triumph in 1996 before taking over as Bangladesh's coach two years ago, said the hosts were on the "right track" and the failure to notch up one Test win since gaining Test status in 2000 did not mean that there was no progress.

"It is definitely disappointing, and time to time frustrating. But as a new Test team, we have a slightly different set of goals, and the players are working harder to achieve that goal," Whatmore said on the eve of the first Test against India at the Bangabandhu National stadium from Friday.

He said the performance against New Zealand, when Bangladesh bounced back from a disastrous Test series to run the Kiwis close in the three One-Day Internationals, promised a lot.