Bangladesh batter Afif Hossain revealed he was suffering from a lack of confidence under previous head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, a period which he feels had held him back from performing consistently.  

The left-hander, who is currently playing for Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League, has been in a constant struggle to find form, both in domestic as well as international cricket, but managed to catch a break from his rut with a 42-ball 56 in a winning cause against Durbar Rajshahi in Chattogram on Sunday, an innings which he claims to have helped in boosting confidence.

"In the last seven-eight months, I had a confidence problem, especially when our last coach [ Chandika Hathurusingha] was there. Truth be told, I was having confidence problems," Afif told reporters at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram following a training session on Tuesday.

"Right now, I don't feel I am facing any problems and am in good rhythm. The things that I have been working on will produce better performances going forward.

"I have been working and there are some little areas to work on and improvements to be made. If I can do those, I will be able to do well consistently. 

"In the last tour [in West Indies], I was working on a lot of things with Salahuddin sir [Bangladesh assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin]. I am working on it," he said.

Afif, who surprised everyone with his inclusion in the ODI series away in the West Indies, managed to get starts in the three ODIs in the Caribbeans in December 2024 but could not make any real impact with scores of 28, 24, and 15 as the Tigers lost the series 3-0. Having also been named in the T20I squad against the West Indies, he got to play a solitary match in which he scored a 12-ball eight. It was a return to the national side following a hiatus of almost a year for the 25-year-old since being dropped from the national fold in December 2023.

In the ongoing edition of the BPL, he has scored 147 runs at a strike-rate of 132.43 in six matches while batting in the top order. Asked if he was feeling more confident now, batting higher up, he replied: "Yes…it does boost me up."

"In the last few matches, I was getting starts, scoring 20-30 runs but I couldn't get bigger scores. In the last match, we lost a wicket due to an unfortunate run-out. I tried to play according to the team plan and what was required in that situation, and we got a good score. So, hopefully, I will feel more confident."