Talha Kamal
Bangladesh stalwart opener Tamim Iqbal will be at the helm of Tigers’ during the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, starting from July 26. Tamim will lead the team as interim captain as earlier skipper Mashrafe was ruled out from the series after sustaining a hamstring injury during team’s training session.
A new look Bangladesh team will be seen at Sri Lanka as four key players will be missing the tourney through various reasons. Mashrafe, ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin and batsman Liton Das were replaced by Pacer Taskin Ahmed, spinner Taijul Islam and all-rounder Farhad Reza and opener Anamul Haque respectively, who will try to fill key players void. Therefore, the squad will have a fresh look and it will be more challenging for interim skipper Tamim, who is suffering from bad form lately.
Tamim, who had a dismal World Cup with the bat will definitely try to redeem himself in this series. Tamim was the only player who immediately started training just after arriving from England. Now, with added pressure of leading the side, it will be interesting to see how Tamim responds. However, previous records says Tamim has always answered with the bat whenever his dismal form came under criticism.
During 2015 World Cup, Tamim had a bad outing as he scored only 154 runs in 7 matches. However, post 2015 Tamim wasted no time and roared back with blistering form with the bat. After the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh played a home series against Pakistan. Tamim had a superb ODI series against Pakistan, where he scored two back-to-back match-winning centuries. Eventually, Bangladesh white-washed Pakistan for the first time in an ODI series and Tamim was named as the Man of the series. He further helped Bangladesh win first ever series against India and also a series win against South Africa. He scored an unbeaten 61 in the last ODI to help the team win the series 2–1. Later that year he also played a major role in Bangladesh's 3–0 series win over Zimbabwe.
Tamim went into the 2019 World Cup, by being the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in international cricket, including Test matches, ODIs and T20 internationals. Therefore, Tamim has proved his worth to the team time and time again, whenever odds were stacked against him. Now, with leadership responsibilities, team will want get that old Tamim back, ahead of a challenging tour in Lankan soil.