Young opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim played down the pressure of filling in the big shoes of Tamim Iqbal, saying that he wants to replicate his natural game that fetched him success in aged-level cricket.
Tamim Iqbal’s record spoke a volume of his immense success and he is one of the pillars of Bangladesh cricket. Therefore, there will be pressure and challenge to thrive in this position, a thing that the Under-19 World Cup winning member Tanzid knew very well.
But, he is matured enough to deal with the pressure factor with a perfect cover drive that he feels his signature stroke.
“We belong to a profession where pressure is very common. There are various kinds of pressures and challenges that we face in matches. The sooner we cope with that, the sooner we can play better cricket,” Tanzid said here today as Bangladesh finally ended its closed-door practice session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Terming his namesake Tamim as one of the idols of the cricketers of Bangladesh, Tanzid said he was inspired by senior Tamim from his childhood.
“Obviously, Tamim bhai is an idol for everyone. I grew up watching him. I will try to give my best and keep the place.”
“As I said earlier, I grew up watching his game as a child. I was inspired to watch the game as his name was similar to mine. For this reason, I have seen his game more than anyone else. He is an idol for us, for everyone. I try to learn a lot by watching his game, like how to control everything in the pressurized moment or how to play in any situation. He is definitely an inspiration. When we met, we talked a lot about everything.”
Tanzid is basically an attacking opener like Tamim of his early age. With cricket evolving dynamically, it is believed Tanzid’s attacking start would give Bangladesh an edge.
In the Under-19 level, Tanzid scored an avalanche of runs at a strike rate of 102, which is only second behind Indian rising star Shuvman Gill. And unlike Tamim, who failed to keep up his aggressive
cricket, Tanzid showed attacking cricket was the best option for him when he made three fifties plus scores with an above 100 strike rate.
Tanzid said what boosted him is the freedom given by the team management.
“The match situation practice match that we did revolved around the Asia Cup. We have practiced here according to the situation where everyone was reminded that there would be 300 plus runs in Sri Lankan conditions. We are trying to achieve the target. Everyone was successful,” he revealed.
“After coming to the national team, the coach once said, you should play the way you have been playing for so long, that is your natural game. He says that if you have any problem, then come and talk to me. He always likes to ask a few questions.”
Having said that Tanzid also revealed the advice he got from the head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
“The coach said: play the way you play. Play your normal game. Don’t aim to chase too much. That’s all.”
But Tanzid doesn’t want to level his cricket as an aggressive one, rather he would like to denote it as a positive brand of cricket.
“When I bat, I have one thought in the ba?ck of my mind–to play positive cricket. Many say I play aggressive cricket, but it is nothing like that. I try to stay normal and believe in my strength and stay positive all the time,” he opined.
