Bangladesh cricket needs to return to stability as a team, asserts Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh have enjoyed some memorable years in the recent past, with 2015 being a landmark season. That year they defeated sides like Pakistan, South Africa, and India in ODI series at home. Since Bangladesh has remained competitive overall, but consistency has been a key issue. In last year’s ODI World Cup, they finished third from bottom in the points table, with as many as five losses and three wins from eight completed matches. Having taken over the leadership from Mashrafe Mortaza after the Zimbabwe series, which they won comfortably, Tamim has set his sights on fixing the trend. 

"Especially in ODIs, 2015 was the turnaround year in Bangladesh cricket. Our graph has shown a bit of a downward trend, but I want to take it upwards. There will always be a bit of up and down, but we need to return to stability as a team. We must stay on the right track in ODIs; we aren't playing much [of the format] because there are so many T20Is these days. We need to know what we want to achieve as a team," Tamim said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo. 

Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim himself remain an integral part of Bangladesh's ODI setup, but with many youngsters being eased into the team over the last two years, the captain wants the youngsters to step up. The 31-year-old knows that his team is just a 'big' victory away from elevating their self-confidence.

"We have four or five young players, like Naim, Afif and [Aminul Islam] Biplob. Even someone like Taijul is young in ODI cricket, though he has been in the national set-up for six years. A big win will give this group a lot of courage. When you start winning games, you generate confidence. When we beat Pakistan 3-0 in 2015, we started believing in ourselves a lot more," he said.

Among the youngsters who have slowly seized the opportunity to perform more consistently is Liton Das. Tamim hopes that the other players under him can learn to build an insatiable appetite for success, learning from the elegant right-hander or Mushfiqur’s template. 

"Someone like Liton Das now reacts and behaves differently after getting out on 70 or 80. He wants to do well even after making that record-breaking 170 recently. I see a lot of hunger in him. I hope everybody follows the same path. Mushfiqur Rahim is another great example. He is never satisfied in any format. When he is doing well, he constantly wants to improve. If this is how everyone thinks, life becomes easier for the captain, coaches and senior players,” Tamim concluded.