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Tabarak Dar has been out there and faced the chin music. He knows what it is like being a yo-yo, and to be told from match to match what his position will be in the batting order.
Now that he's in charge, he has promised to do away with the old ways and bring a semblance of stability that he hopes will bring runs and success in Kuwait as Asian champions Hong Kong (among the ICC associate members)  defend their one-day crown.
'I won't be shuffling the batting around. I already have in mind who bats where and we will stick to that and give the players more time and opportunity to deliver,' says the former Hong Kong opener, who has now been appointed coach of Hong Kong's ACC Trophy squad.
Poor batting has been the bane of Hong Kong in recent times, but  the  team have reached unprecedented heights and will begin  the ACC Trophy  on Wednesday as the side to beat.
It will be a tall order for captain Najeeb Amar and his team to bring home the silverware again. 
'We know the pressure will be on us, and everyone will be gunning for the defending champions. It will be harder this time, but we are quietly confident.
'At the last three ACC Trophies, our top order has always struggled to get runs,' says Najeeb. 'This hasn't been helped by all the chopping and changing that takes place, but I think this time it will be different.'
Dar, given the tiller on a temporary basis (the Hong Kong Cricket Association will appoint a full-time coach later this year), believes in  picking a player and giving him the chance to perform.
'In the past, we have gone overseas and experimented during the tournament, moving batsmen up and down the order. We tend to panic when things are not going entirely our way,' Dar says. 'I'm not a big fan of shuffling players around. I have a plan and I will try to stick to that.'
Each member of the 14-strong squad will be given a role - batting or bowling - and will be expected to deliver. Hong Kong are drawn with Nepal, Singapore, Oman and hosts Kuwait. The other pool comprises Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Bhutan and Malaysia. The top two in each pool will move into the knockout semi-finals.
While stability is desired, the ability to think on your feet can also be beneficial, as proved two years ago at the ACC Trophy when Hong Kong, chasing a target in the Cup final against the United Arab Emirates, changed the batting order and sent Najeeb up at number three.
'There was a rain break and we had just lost our first wicket. When play resumed, it was decided I go up the order at number three,' Najeeb recalls. 'I went out there with the luxury that we still had around 46 overs to bat and that there were eight batsmen still to come.'
Left-hander Najeeb scored a quick-fire 100 as Hong Kong were able to overhaul their target and defeat perennial winners the UAE for the first time.
But Najeeb fully backs Dar, who was a teammate two years ago, as he embarks on his fifth ACC Trophy campaign.
'It will all depend on how quickly we get used to the conditions in Kuwait. We will have to get acclimatised to the weather conditions as well as the turf wickets. We will be playing two matches on the trot every time in the first round and fitness will also be a factor,' says Najeeb.
Fitness can be a telling factor in the heat of Kuwait, especially for the older players like Najeeb, Ilyas Gull, Hussain Butt and Munir Dar. Encouragingly, Hong Kong will also be taking a group of youngsters, six of whom played in the Under-19 ICC World Cup earlier this year in New Zealand.
Talented all-rounder Irfan Ahmed, who a fortnight ago blazed a stunning double century in a 50-over Sunday League game, leads this bunch of young guns, who also include Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, Asif Khan, Waqas Barkat and Vikash Vaswani Gope.
But Dar's biggest worry is the lack of match practice in the build-up. If you discount the recent ACC Twenty20 Trophy, Hong Kong's last international assignment was the ICC Division Three tournament in Argentina a year ago.
'For a whole year we haven't played international 50-overs cricket, and I'm worried about this lack of match practice,' Dar says. 'As a team, we have the talent. Individually, many of them are in top form, but my concern is how we gel  as a team and how to get the combinations right.'
Hong Kong had only one game against outside opposition - a one-off game against China on March 16. Even though it was weak opposition - Hong Kong won by 184 runs - it was still much-needed match practice.
'You don't get the chance to play much cricket here, and then you go into a tournament and you're forced to experiment there,' Dar laments.
'Whenever we have done well in the past, we have always had an extensive build-up. On the last two occasions we went to Pakistan and Sri Lanka for warm-up games, we returned stronger and performed better.
'This time we are going in cold and the pressure will be on us. Teams will be coming at us as defending champions.'
It will be up to his batsmen, who have been told they will be given some security, to come up trumps in Kuwait.



Dar puts faith in batsmen to bring home the silverware