Tamim expecting youngsters to contribute more in international level

Occasions are plenty when the Bangladesh cricket team missed out on contributions from the young members of the side at crucial points of several games. On most of the occasions, it was the five seniors of the team in the shape of Shakib al Hasan, Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah who came to the rescue of the side. The current youngsters in the team in the form of Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and others made fine starts to their international careers. However, as time passed, the youngsters took a backseat as their performance level dropped. A lot has been said about the youngsters’ failures. There were also instances when the dedication and focus of the young members of the team were questioned by the cricketing public. Bangladesh opener Tamim however, does not believe there is any issue with his younger colleagues as far as hard work is concerned. The left-handed swashbuckling batsman said the juniors put in a lot of hard work in the nets but are not being able to produce positive results. “It is always good for the team when you have the young ones contribute. I always find them working hard during practice but it might be that they are not getting the results. I hope they are able to overcome that and start contributing for the national team. The team will start producing more results if (the juniors) can add to the contributions to that of the four-five seniors who are in the side,” Tamim explained to the media at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Tuesday.

---

Also read: Tamim praises Mashrafe’s dedication

---

Tamim, who is currently recuperating from his injured left ankle, believes the recovery process is crucial, considering the long schedule up ahead, including both international and domestic cricket. The Tigers have gone into a break following the Nidahas T20I tri-nation series and will return to business in mid-May this year. Bangladesh will return to international cricket with the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Dehradun in June this year, followed by the tour of the West Indies. “Everyone already knows that it will take at least four to six weeks for me to recover. I am expecting to recover well within time. There is a lot of cricket to play this year. So my recovery now is crucial,” Tamim said. Very rarely has Tamim missed an entire Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League season. The 2017-18 season is about to end with only two matchdays remaining this week. However, Tamim has not been able to take part in a single game. Tamim, picked up by Kalabagan Krira Chakra in the players’ draft, firstly was unavailable due to the Pakistan Super League T20 and then the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka. And when he did return, his injury denied him from DPL action. As it stands, Kalabagan are at the bottom of the points table and are set to get relegated to the First Division. “I always enjoy playing the Dhaka League. This is the only domestic tournament that I enjoy playing the most, given the level of competition in the tournament. All the players here try to put their best. So it was disappointing for me that I was not able to play this season. But at this point I am concentrating on my recovery, bearing in mind the long international schedule ahead,” said Tamim.