Tamim not banking on 2015 memories
"You have scored 95 under pressure when you last played here in a World Cup match. Now you are going through good times with the bat and the team will look at you with more expectations. What do you think about?" he concluded the question with a laugh.
This is a question Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal got not from an inquisitive reporter at the Trailways team hotel in Nelson but from his captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. The Tigers captain has a history of sitting with the press people during a briefing and asking questions to his teammates. This is one of the many ploys that helped him to gel the team as a unit.
But it was understandably the most poignant question ahead of Bangladesh’s second one-day international against New Zealand on Thursday and after their 77-run defeat at Christchurch.
“Is it a kind of pressure you are putting on me?” Tamim retorted, adding: “It is always good to go into a ground with 95 in your last innings. But that does not necessarily mean that there will be another 95. I can get out for nought and more importantly I will have to start from zero.”
Tamim’s 95 at the Saxton Oval in Nelson during Bangladesh’s World Cup match against Scotland was the cornerstone in their impressive six-wicket win and that too chasing a very good Scottish total of 318. In that high-scoring game Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman also played crucial knocks.
It was also Bangladesh’s first-ever match at the Saxton Oval, where the Tigers will also play their third and final ODI against the Black Caps. The Bangladesh team were in a good mood after arriving in Nelson after a slightly bumpy flight from Christchurch via Wellington.
The hot and sunny weather in the tourist city on the lap of the Tasman Sea also injected a feel-good atmosphere in the Tigers’ camp. But a discomforting news apart from Mushfiqur Rahim's hamstring injury is that the Tigers might face rain interruption when training at the Saxon Oval on Wednesday.
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