Agency :
Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal believes that people are overly concerned with the ages of cricketers in the national team, claiming that only the best players make it into the national squad and playing eleven.
Captain Tamim was speaking to media before Bangladesh ODI team departed for Zimbabwe.
“I think people have been talking too much about young and old recently. Only the most capable 15 get a chance in the squad and the best possible 11 are chosen. It can happen that some players don’t get game time, but we look to give them chances at any opportunity that arises. This is an international series, not a local match in the neighbourhood where we can play whoever we want. Whoever deserves a place will play,” Tamim said.
Tamim also stated that youngstars have been given enough opportunity to succeed recently, citing the recently finished West Indies tour and the relatively young T20I team picked for the Zimbabwe tour.
“I think youngsters are getting all the opportunities now. There are 15 players in the squad so it’s not possible to play everyone. But if you cast your eyes back to the last series, all the youngsters played. If you look at this series, yes Mushfiqur [Rahim] is being included and he is a very, very important player for us. But everyone is playing,” he added.
Tamim has wished newly-appointed T20I skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan best of luck. “These are exciting times for Nurul [Hasan Sohan]. I spoke to him just a while ago and wished him. He has played the role of captain in the domestic circuit but this will be a different challenge, a new challenge for him. I’m sure and I pray that he will do well.”
