Published on 02:44 PM, November 21, 2020

‘Pressure of captaincy’ is a term made by the media: Tamim

Photo: Screenshot from BCB press release

Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal said that the term "pressure of captaincy" is something that the media has made. The left-hander denied being affected by any such external pressures. 

Tamim, who was the captain of a team in last month's BCB President's Cup, will be leading an inexperienced Fortune Barishal in the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 Cup, scheduled to begin from November 24. 

Asked if captaincy will be an extra burden, Tamim said that pressure of captaincy is nothing but a creation of the media. 

"I am yet to play a competitive match [since being named the captain of Bangladesh ODI side]. At first, I would need to play a competitive match. Pressure of captaincy is actually something made up by you people [the media]. I have not yet played any international game [as a captain]. I even said that the success of a captain should be judged based on the performance of the team over a year or a period of six months. And that is true for any leader in the world," said Tamim. 

Tamim was made the ODI skipper of Bangladesh last March after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stepped aside from the role. Tamim is however yet to make his debut appearance as the captain of Bangladesh. 

According to the southpaw, his success as the captain can be measured after he has led the team in at least 20-25 games. 

"You have to judge after at least 20-25 matches how much the captaincy is affecting my game. All of you start talking about the pressure of captaincy just after two or three games. No one can learn anything in just two or three games and it is true for everyone. A kid takes nine months to learn how to walk. But before that you can not say that the kid can't walk," added Tamim.

Tamim also remained adamant that the false sense of burden created by the media does not affect his game in any way. 

"I don't face any kinds of problems [with media creating hype and pressure]. I always said that I never dreamt of becoming the captain of the Bangladesh side. But now that I got it, I would try to do my best. Only time will tell if I will be any good at that," Tamim concluded.