Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said it will be a big relief for each member of the team with the return of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal in the squad ahead of the ODI series against West Indies.
He was speaking at a pre-match press conference on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.
The Tigers’ skipper said it is a big relief for the team to have those two back in the side. Presence of Shakib and Tamim in the team is always a big advantage. The fact is that Tamim played the practice match and made runs is also good for the team.
Both Shakib and Tamim were Tigers’ best performers during the series against the West Indies at the Caribbean soil as Bangladesh managed to recover from a horrifying Test series to clinch the ODI and the T20 series.
Bangladesh team hugely depend on those two stars and Mashrafe reiterated that coming back from injury is always hard to perform and in Tamim’s case the team cannot expect him to hit top gear straight away.
Both Shakib and Tamim were injured during the Asia Cup and the Tigers sorely missed their presence especially since they missed out on the advantage of being able to build their innings around Tamim, who has had played the anchor role to perfection before his injury.
Mashrafe said naturally it takes time to perform after returning from injury so just because Tamim scored a hundred in the practice match, Mashrafe cannot expect him to be extraordinary in the next match as well. He could play better than he did or he may not. It takes some time to adjust yourself after returning from an injury,” Mashrafe said.
The Southpaw opener Tamim was out for two to two-and-a-half months while star all-rounder Shakib however have made some adjustments after playing two Test matches. But Tamim might take some time to adjust himself, he added.
