Tamim Iqbal – We came here to play good cricket, but in cricket, you can’t say anything beforehand
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal is hesitant to declare his team to be the “favorites” to avoid being complacent ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Ireland while Bangladesh enters the series fresh off a three-match ODI series win over Ireland at home in May.
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal is hesitant to declare his team to be the “favorites” to avoid being complacent ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Ireland.
Bangladesh enters the series fresh off a three-match ODI series win over Ireland at home in May.
“I don’t want to use the favorite word a lot,”
Tamim told reporters at the Fenners Ground at Cambridge University on Sunday.
“We came here to play good cricket and win games, but in cricket, you can’t say anything beforehand. They will play and they are a good team in these conditions and are quite familiar with it.
“We hope that it will be a good and competitive series,”
he said.
Bangladesh is set to play at Chelmsford from May 9, while the other two games in the series, which are a part of the ICC Super League, are scheduled for May 12 and 14, respectively at the same venue.
Even though Bangladesh arrived in England by May 2 due to bad weather; however, visitors were unable to prepare as they had hoped while the only practice match against Ireland Wolves was postponed due to rain on May 5.
Furthermore, the tourist is yet to practice at the venue where the ODIs are to be played and is now hosting a game of the ongoing County Championship.
“We couldn’t prepare to our potential as the weather is not in our hands. We are trying to prepare as much as we can and the rest will have to be mental preparation. The target is to play well and win. We will visit the ground tomorrow where the game will be held and if the weather allows, we will practice,”
said Tamim
“It would have been great if we could play a session on that ground. But that facility is not available there because a county championship match is probably going on. So, I’m not thinking about all these things because these are not under my control as a cricketer or captain or any of our players.
“Without thinking about them, we have an important game on the 9th for which we can mentally prepare as much as possible, and everyone is involved to some extent in the game. I am sure that the more mentally prepared we are, the more it will help us,”
he said, adding that they will make a call on their playing XI after seeing the wicket and the conditions in Chelmsford.
“We can only say what the combination will be after looking at the wicket since we don’t have much experience of playing at this ground,”
he said.
Tamim added that the top-order batting unit needs to be aware of the initial challenge.
“At the beginning of the season, the wicket here is somewhat slow. I can’t say for sure whether it will be low-scoring or not. Perhaps the wicket will be somewhat helpful for the bowlers, especially at the beginning of the season in England.
“We’ll have to do well with the top-order batsmen as much as possible, to avoid losing too many wickets. In any condition, the first 10 overs are always tough, but it gets easier later on.”