e_Paper 7-11-2016
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Sport 25<br />
DT<br />
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />
All BPL sides<br />
agree to<br />
rematches<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
All the seven BPL franchises have<br />
agreed for rematches during an<br />
emergency meeting of the BPL governing<br />
council on Saturday.<br />
Among other developments, the<br />
GC also decided to restart the tournament<br />
from tomorrow owing to<br />
persistent rain in the last few days.<br />
The four matches which were<br />
washed out will be played again and<br />
points table will be wiped clean.<br />
Comilla Victorians and Rajshahi<br />
Kings, who were scheduled to take<br />
on each other in the tournament<br />
opener last Friday, will now play<br />
their match on November 30.<br />
Friday’s second match between<br />
Rangpur Riders and Khulna Titans<br />
will be played this Thursday while<br />
Saturday’s games - Chittagong Vikings<br />
v Barisal Bulls and Comilla<br />
v Dhaka Dynamites - will now be<br />
held next Monday.<br />
The Barisal v Khulna and Rangpur<br />
v Rajshahi matches, originally<br />
scheduled for yesterday, will now<br />
be held on Nov 20 in Chittagong<br />
and Nov 28 in Dhaka, respectively.•<br />
Comilla Victorians captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his team mates prepare for training in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday<br />
DHAKA TRIBUNE<br />
Tamim: Mushfiq is a perfect example of a good leader<br />
Tamim Iqbal has come of age ever<br />
since making his international<br />
debut nine years back as he is<br />
currently the highest Bangladesh<br />
run-getter in all three formats.<br />
He was instrumental behind the<br />
Tigers’ rise as the next big thing<br />
in world cricket. The vice captain<br />
of the Bangladesh Test side<br />
was candid during an exclusive<br />
interview with Mazhar Uddin of<br />
Dhaka Tribune where he talked<br />
about the recent historic Test<br />
win against England, Mushfiqur<br />
Rahim’s captaincy, his personal<br />
goal and the challenges he faced<br />
before featuring for the national<br />
team, among other things.<br />
Here are the excerpts:<br />
How much does the historic Test<br />
win against England means to<br />
Bangladesh cricket?<br />
Massive. We have been going<br />
through a very bad phase in Test<br />
cricket and at times, we got frustrated<br />
and thought about the mistakes<br />
we were committing. All of<br />
a sudden, we started to believe in<br />
our strengths and registered our<br />
biggest win in Test cricket. I think<br />
the belief is important and I hope<br />
we can take this forward and improve<br />
as a team in Test cricket.<br />
How do you rate Mushfiqur Rahim<br />
as the captain of the Test side?<br />
I think Mushfiq is a perfect example<br />
of a good leader. He is the most<br />
hard-working player in the team who<br />
gives his hundred percent as a cricketer<br />
and also as a captain. A captain<br />
should be someone whom everyone<br />
would like to follow and Mushfiq has<br />
all the qualities. Yes, at times we all<br />
make mistakes as we were playing<br />
Test cricket after over 14 months.<br />
Being a batsman, I have made some<br />
mistakes, same goes for Mushfiq. I<br />
still believe he has all the qualities of<br />
a perfect leader for the team.<br />
Do you have any competitions<br />
with Shakib al Hasan in terms of<br />
performance and reaching new<br />
milestones?<br />
I always want to beat him when it<br />
comes to batting and same goes for<br />
Shakib when he goes out to bat. But<br />
unfortunately I can’t bowl and undoubtedly<br />
he is the best with the<br />
ball. Yes, there is a very healthy<br />
and positive competition among us<br />
MD MANIK<br />
as we always want to improve our<br />
game. There is a friendly competition<br />
between us to see who gets to<br />
score the most number of hundreds<br />
as we were almost neck to neck in<br />
that aspect. Even if I get dismissed<br />
after scoring 30 or 40 runs, he<br />
pinches me that I missed a fifty or<br />
a hundred. But we all take these<br />
things very positively and whenever<br />
he scores runs or I play a good<br />
knock, we congratulate each other.<br />
How does it feels to witness the<br />
improvement of the Bangladesh<br />
team over the years? You were also<br />
a part of the team when the going<br />
got tough so how do you describe<br />
the Tigers’ rise?<br />
If you ask me about the limited-over<br />
formats then I would say<br />
yes, we have come a long way and<br />
Bangladesh are now a dangerous<br />
side in the limited-overs. But in<br />
Test cricket, I will say we still need<br />
to improve a lot and we have a long<br />
way to go to become a consistent<br />
Test team.<br />
Maybe we have registered a<br />
good win against England, but I<br />
still believe we have a lot to learn<br />
and improve in Test cricket.<br />
Going back to the past, how<br />
difficult or easy was your journey<br />
to the Bangladesh team? There<br />
were high expectations on you as<br />
you were a member of a cricketing<br />
family where your uncle Akram<br />
Khan was the former captain and<br />
elder brother Nafees Iqbal was the<br />
opening Test batsman. Was there<br />
pressure on you right from the<br />
very early age?<br />
Yes, there was immense pressure on<br />
me, right from the age-level period.<br />
Everyone sees me differently as my<br />
uncle Akram chacha is a legend of<br />
Bangladesh cricket and my elder<br />
brother Nafees also played for Bangladesh.<br />
Everyone thinks that I will<br />
be selected only because of that but<br />
very few have noticed my hard work<br />
and dedication towards the game.<br />
Ultimately, I have to score runs and<br />
prove my ability on the field.<br />
You are the highest Bangladesh<br />
run-scorer in all three formats and<br />
people now recognise your uncle<br />
and brother by your name. How<br />
does it feel?<br />
Definitely it feels great to create<br />
records for my country but still,<br />
I never think like that as Akram<br />
Khan is a big name in the history<br />
of Bangladesh cricket. They played<br />
the game even without taking<br />
money at some point of their career.<br />
It goes on to show their dedication<br />
and love towards the game.<br />
I don’t want to compare myself in<br />
that way as my goal is different.<br />
So what is your goal?<br />
To be frank, I don’t think about<br />
centuries or set any target but as<br />
I previously said, I want to score<br />
10,000 runs in any format.<br />
How much hard work and sacrifice<br />
does it take to improve Tamim as<br />
a player?<br />
Honestly, it’s really tough when you<br />
have all the attention on you right<br />
from the very early age. Everyone<br />
is watching you, how you play, how<br />
you behave and many more things.<br />
So yes, it was very tough and it was<br />
never possible without the support<br />
from my colleagues and coaches<br />
and along with my hard work. You<br />
know you will never achieve anything<br />
without hard work.<br />
Where do you want to see the<br />
Bangladesh team when you retire?<br />
I would like to see Bangladesh at<br />
the top five or top three will be<br />
great, especially in ODIs and T20s<br />
and in Test cricket, I would be happy<br />
if we stay at the top five when I<br />
finish my career. •
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