DHAKA: No fear. It's easily said by a cricket coach, but another matter to have your side believe it.

Bangladesh, who were the laughing stock of world cricket midway through last year, now fear no one, according to their coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, the former Sri Lanka opening batsman.

That much was obvious on Monday when they tore through awful England in Adelaide to send them tumbling out of the Cricket World Cup, booking their own quarterfinal spot for the first time.

On Friday they face the Black Caps in Hamilton, then comes the biggest game of their lives, probably against unbeaten India in the quarters in Melbourne next week.

"We were not afraid to fail. That is the key word that we spoke about. I think we [previously] were paralysed by failure, we were not pushing ourselves," Haturusinghe said.

"We talked about that throughout this World Cup. For us, it's a freedom to do things and believing in ourselves is the key for not only the England game but for every other game.

"Even when Scotland put up 300, we were still backing ourselves to do things."

Upsets away from home haven't been foreign to the Bangladeshis, who famously toppled Australia in Cardiff in 2005 and India at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

But as recently as last year it seemed the players from the cricket-mad nation of 150 million were afraid of their own shadows. The progress made under now-Wellington coach Jamie Siddons had gone into reverse. In their first 13 ODIs of 2014 they lost 12, including one to Afghanistan, and the other was a no-result.

Hathurusinghe, who was appointed to replace Shane Jurgensen, a former Black Caps bowling coach, in May last year, appears to have the Midas touch. He speaks in calm, measured tones. He was assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss in the New South Wales Sheffield Shield-winning team of last season and came highly respected for his coaching nous in Sri Lanka.

Batting giant Kumar Sangakkara said in 2010 that Hathurusinghe's "technical and strategic knowledge was second to none of the foreign coaches I have worked with before".

It must start with the players. Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was their poster boy but prone to ill-discipline. Their batting was talented but flaky. Not any more. Tamim Iqbal calmly guided home a big chase against Scotland in Nelson with 95, then Mahmudullah hit his country's first World Cup century against England.

And the bowling, usually trial by spin led by Shakib, was sparked by the pace and late swing of Rubel Hossain, the guile of skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and teenager Taskin Ahmed, with his bounce and changes of pace. It was lively and intimidating and England couldn't handle it.

Interest has gone through the roof. Tournament organisers accredited 40 Bangladeshi media representatives for Friday's game which was sold out weeks ago.

Hathurusinghe felt his team were dealt a tough hand by needing to beat one of Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka or England to reach the quarters. Now they're there, the coach insists just making the quarterfinals won't be enough, even if it appears a tough task to lift again after one of their most famous wins which stopped a nation.

"Playing for your country and playing a World Cup is enough for them to get up early morning and come prepared to do well. I think that is the key for these guys. If you see how they prepare today, how they practiced today, I think it's amazing. They never seem to get tired of training and training hard and getting prepared for the game."

Now it's about consistency overseas. They haven't won in New Zealand in 12 internationals over the three formats, but Monday's victory wasn't lost on Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum.

"They don't always get performances on the board travelling but we're starting to see their skill sets. What we saw with Rubel and co as quick bowlers [against England] is a lot more dangerous than it was a few years ago.

"Passion for the game is starting to flow through and the talent is rising to the top and I expect them to become a very tough proposition over next few years. The quick bowlers will ask us some questions tomorrow, especially if it juices up a bit [with rain]."

Source: Stuff.co.nz

BDST: 0550 HRS, MAR 13, 2015