'We can beat any team'
After getting hammered for 341 runs in Christchurch in alien conditions, it would not have been a surprise to see a dejected Bangladeshi outfit. However, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal, who spoke to reporters yesterday, seemed anything but dull.
They were laughing, switching roles -- Mashrafe at one point had taken the role of a journalist and even asked Tamim a question.
A confident Tamim believes that Bangladesh can beat New Zealand provided that the visitors rectify their mistakes.
“I think that we have a very good chance to win and I am not necessarily talking about the series, I am talking about the next match. But we need to work properly. We need to execute the batting plans and the other plans that we have in our meetings. If we can execute them in the middle, then we can do well. I have the belief that this Bangladeshi side can beat any team at the moment,” said Tamim.
“In the last two years, our top order has been doing well. Even in the last game, there were good individual performances. I just think that there is no point in discussing so many things just after one game. We have more games in the series and we need to focus on that,” he added.
Bangladesh played on an extremely batting-friendly wicket at Christchurch. While they did underperform with the bat, they managed to reach 264 while chasing 341. The batsmen seemed to crumble under the weight of such a huge total. Tamim indicated that that was one of the reasons why they failed in the first game.
“It was definitely chase-able because teams chase totals above 300 quite frequently today. But I think a lot of it comes down to habit. The conditions that we play in back at home don't produce 340-plus totals regularly. We score around 260 or 270 and on good wickets the total goes up to 320. It's about the habit. If we can win a few matches like these, then we can get the confidence,” explained Tamim.
“In addition, we will need some time to adjust to conditions here. We are playing here after a gap of six years. Teams that come here every year continue to struggle. The faster we adjust to conditions, the better it will be for us,” he added.
If New Zealand win the next game, they will win the three-match series. That will definitely feel good considering that they lost their last two series against Bangladesh away from home.
However, that is not something that Tamim is too concerned about.
“The reason why Bangladesh has been doing well in the last two years is because we have developed an attitude that makes us want to win every game. So it does not really matter if we are playing the first match or the third match, we are going to play to win no matter what,” said a confident Tamim.