Tamim Iqbal is eying to lead Bangladesh exemplary in the upcoming Sri Lanka tour even though he has been in pressure to overcome personal poor form, after failing to live up to the expectation in the recently concluded World Cup.
The opener was handed the captaincy role after Mashrafe Mortaza suffered a fresh hamstring injury and subsequently was ruled out for a month. Mashrafe in fact played the whole World Cup through this injury.
As the designated vice-captain of the side Shakib Al Hasan was also absent after BCB granted his plea to take a leave from Sri Lanka tour. Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim were in line to take the captaincy as a senior player of the side.
Mushfiqur however showed his reluctance to take the role but Tamim promptly accepted it, taking it as a challenge.
“I couldn’t play to my full potential [in World Cup]. But the new challenge is coming. Hopefully something good will happen, let’s see,” he told the reporters at Hazrat Shahjalala International Airport on Saturday (Jul 20) just before leaving the country with Bangladesh team for Colombo.
Tamim had scored 235 runs in eight matches at an average of just 29.67. He scored just one half-century in the cricket’s biggest extravaganza, a 62 against Australia.
The expectation was high on Tamim following his superb form since the 2015 World Cup and he himself had intensive practice session and plan to do well in this World Cup. But no plan and his superb form worked for him as his form took a nosedive suddenly, leaving Tamim in soul-searching to what happened actually.
But he now wants a turnaround and said the Sri Lanka tour is perfect platform for him to erase the painful memory of the World Cup.
“If I keep thinking about my failure in the World Cup, it will not fetch good result for,” Tamim said. “I want to look ahead and I am positive. I am trying to find the positive things.”
Tamim however got a team where team’s best player is absent while some other regular players are not playing.
Even though Bangladesh still is dubbed as the favourite against Sri Lanka, they are yet to win any bilateral series in the Lankan’s soil.
Therefore the tour is challenging for Tamim on his captaincy front too, apart from overcoming the personal poor form.
“I think the series is very important us. The team with which we are going to Sri Lanka, it has many things to prove,” he opined.
‘We haven’t got the service of some of our best players. That’s why the series is challenging for us. Sri Lanka is very strong team at its home den.”
Tamim however is taking confidence from the latest matches against Sri Lanka at their own den, specially the Nidahas Trophy T20, in which they beat Lankans to show their strength.
“We have been playing well in Sri Lanka in the recent times. I didn’t find any reason not to do well there this time around,” he said.