The heartbreaking series loss in Zimbabwe might have been still playing on the Tigers' minds in spite of the whitewash of lowly Kenya. And many might look for an answer to why the team have yet to overcome the perennial top-order failure albeit a high-profile coach at the helm. But nothing is a concern for Whatmore.

Rather, he sounded very optimistic and confident while talking to the reporters during the first net session at the Mirpur Indoors yesterday after a weeklong fitness and fielding training stint.

With his hand on heart, literally, the 53-year old Sri Lankan-born Australian said that he realistically believes that his side have the strength to win two matches and qualify for the second round. In-form Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe are the other qualifying contenders.

"When I came here, everything was well below par. I took charge in that situation and slowly, but surely, managed to win some matches. The team are now on the right track. I believe we have the strength to win two games in this competition," said the confident-looking coach.

Although there are very strong opinions in and out of the board that the team desperately need a batting coach, the master tactician has yet to find any reason to add one.

"I have been part of the Sri Lanka team that had a batting coach in (South African great) Barry Richards and what he says is good stuff but even though you can have the best coaches in the world, the bottom line is to make the right decisions under a little bit of stress in the pressure of a game," he explained.

"Boys here have a reasonable technique but what they need to do is read and react to the game. A batting coach is good as he can tell you more about technique, and sing the same song as is always sung in this country but I don't know if that would be favourable or not," he added.

After a mixed bag of results in Africa, many expected Whatmore to stress on something different during the camp but he is adamant to stick to his manual.

"We stressed on a lot of similar things we have done in the past, that is, what are the principles that make a good one-day cricketer.

"But what we want to stress is the difference now in this team, compared to even a few months ago, is that we debuted a couple of young boys which has made this team a lot more flexible," he responded.

"We need to have a couple of these multi-skilled players. They have come in against an opposition which is not the best but we have to start from somewhere. It has enabled the team to take a slightly different shape than what we has since I joined in 2003. And I am excited about that.

"And what we need is to continue to identify these types of players who are multi-skilled, particularly in the one-day game.

"Develop them, give them planning, opportunity and competition to make them take the next step," he continued.

Although there was special focus on top-order batting, especially on the opening slot, Whatmore emphasised on his team's overall picture rather than putting interest in a particular area.

"Because of the slightly different nature of the team, we can post a total that we can defend or chase a total which is very encouraging. Without stressing on one area, I have to look at a team which have improved so much in three years. The team have won very important matches but what we have not done is being able to be consistent, which everyone agrees upon," he explained.

Whatmore was not ready to set a target with Bangladesh eyeing on the next World Cup to be held in West Indies next year but far beyond it.

"To me the World Cup is immaterial; personally I don't think we should even bother about that. We are looking to get this team into a really good competitive shape as soon as possible. The World Cup is here in another eight months, which is good for everyone, but my interest lies well beyond the tournament. What we have to do about these guys is make them play competitive cricket not in the next six months just for the World Cup but, in 2007, 2008, 2009 and beyond," he said.