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Tamim gears up for ‘Interesting’ Afghan series


Published : 03 Jun 2023 08:13 PM

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal praised the strong Afghanistan as he urged to improve in all three categories to beat the Afghans in the upcoming complete series.

Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have been playing regularly in franchise cricket for the last few years. It’s undoubtable that their experience is increasing as they play with experienced cricketers of the world. And that has been seen in the international arena.

Bangladesh batters always face difficulty when they encounter with spinners like Rashid, Mujib-ur Rahman. Tamim wants the best performance in all three departments - bowling, batting and fielding - to beat Afghanistan.

“It is always an interesting series (vs Afghanistan). I think Afghanistan is a quality team. Saw their performance today (beating Sri Lanka). We have to ensure performance in all three categories,” Tamim said to the media on Friday.

He also reminded that the series against Afghans will not be easy. “It will be a tough series for Bangladesh because they have a quality bowling attack. Hopefully, we will be well prepared. We start with the Test. After that, we will prepare for the ODIs. Now we are mainly thinking about the Test.”

Afghanistan will visit Bangladesh on June 10. The only Test will be held at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on June 14. The cricketers have already started the practice camp for the Test.

Afghanistan are currently on a three-ODI tour to Sri Lanka and have already won their opening game by six wickets to lead the series 1-0 against the hosts. Tamim brought to mind the Afghans’ recent form and said the upcoming series will be interesting for the Tigers. 

“One thing that I want to say about the Afghanistan series is that a match-up between the two sides is always interesting. I think Afghanistan are a quality team. Did you see their performance today [Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Friday]? We will have to perform in all three departments against Afghanistan,” Tamim added.

The Three match ODI series is scheduled to be played from July 5th, followed by a T20I series.

Bangladesh have already started their camp on May 29 under the supervision of assistant coach Nic Pothas. The Tigers will begin skill training on June 4 after head coach Chandika Hathurusingha arrives.