While the entire country celebrated the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal was busy at the nets at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
The Tigers were given a break from June 12 and are scheduled to return to business Wednesday to prepare for the tour of the West Indies. Bangladesh team are scheduled to leave here for the Caribbean Saturday.
Tamim however, had other things in mind. The left-handed batsman cancelled his visit to Chittagong for the Eid vacation and stayed back in Dhaka to attend some extra sessions at the nets. It is understood that the Bangladesh opener requested the BCB cricket operations committee for practice facilities during this break and had arranged net bowlers who were more than happy to help him, despite the holidays.
Following a grueling session at the BCB Academy nets Monday, Tamim informed that his decision to stay back in Dhaka was down to the Windies’ current form. The West Indies just registered a massive 226-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Test match. What’s more, the Windies also stayed true to their conventional method of producing wickets with help for the faster bowlers.
“I don’t remember (the last time I missed Eid with family) to be honest. I am always in Chittagong with my family during Eid if I am not busy playing abroad. Probably this is the first instance in a very long time,” said Tamim to the media.
Tamim said this extra preparation ahead of the Caribbean tour will help him to be confident.
“Any team are confident when they are winning matches. But what I thought is the preparation I had will not be enough against them. I thought of preparing more, hence these extra practice sessions. I always say I can’t guarantee if I will succeed or that I will be able to score runs for the team. But what I can do is prepare myself and make the job easy. I can say I tried my best if I fail, despite being prepared. It is important to prepare to play well,” Tamim explained.
Tamim Monday was found spending time with local coach Mohammad Salahuddin. The former Tigers fielding coach is often seen with high-profile Bangladesh cricketers when they are struggling.
Bangladesh squad for the two-match Test series against West Indies. pic.twitter.com/rHxfbGiZgy
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) June 18, 201
When queried as to what consultancy Tamim had taken from Salahuddin, the Chittagong lad said, “I like to discuss with Salahuddin sir about my batting. I feel that he understands my way of playing, and how I think of the game. I was not happy in a few of my practice sessions recently. I felt I was doing things wrongly with the bat. That’s why I requested him to come to the session to see my batting and show if I am doing anything wrong. There were a few things we discussed.”
Tamim recently has been glued to the TV set following the Test series between host Windies and Sri Lanka. When asked to share his observation, Tamim said, “It is easy to guess (what they might come up with). I am expecting grassy wickets. The two Tests (against Sri Lanka) had grass on the wickets. They use four pacers so there is less chance of having a flat wicket. There will be help for the bowlers and I hope that our bowlers will be able to make use of that.
“It is normal against the Asian teams when on tour. We (Asia sides) prefer spin track when we have teams coming to play us at home, other than against the Asia teams. So we have to face the opposite challenge when we tour abroad. This will not be first time for us. It had happened when we toured New Zealand and South Arica. We need to prepare very well. Good thing is we have a week’s time and a practice game before the first Test against the West Indies. So that camp ahead of the series will be vital.”
