Tamim’s formula for fearless cricket

Bangladesh cricket team's 'no-fear' attitude, even when the chips are down came to the rescue during the first game of the 3-match ODI series against India at Mirpur Stadium.

Although Bangladesh won the game quite comfortably by 79 runs in the end, there were crucial periods during the match when India fought back to make things more difficult for Tigers.

In the space of 10 overs, Bangladesh had a mini-collapse from 1/102 to 4/146 after Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim were back in the hut.

When India began their chase, both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got on top of the Bangladeshi bowlers with some bold stroke-play. They scored 95 runs in 16 overs.

Both Suresh Raina and Ravidra Jadeja took on the bowlers, but their 60-run partnership was too little too late as far as India was concerned.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal talked about the excitingly fearless brand of cricket his team has been playing since last November, clearly responsible for the nine consecutive ODI wins at home on either side of a decent World Cup campaign.

"There was a time when we believed that we needed to give our hundred percent and a bad performance from our opponents to win a match, but now we believe that if we can maintain our process then we can get the result," Tamim told The Daily Star.

Tamim believes that Bangladesh doesn't have to depend on their opponent to have a bad day to win matches in the future. He trusts his teammates to deliver by their skill and talent.

Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma also acknowledged the way Bangladesh played, especially how their batsmen took on the Indian challenge.

"They (Bangladesh) got the momentum early. They got a hundred-run opening partnership and from there they played fearless cricket. They kept going after our bowlers," said Rohit Sharma during a press-briefing.

Tamim may have scored his fourth half-century against India in the last ten innings, he was understandably disappointed at not converting his knock into a hundred, like he did against Pakistan.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha, however, was not pleased with the batsmen giving away good starts in the first game against India.

Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar got to fifties but didn't push on despite looking comfortable.

Debutant Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim fell early before Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman got them back into reckoning with a strong fifth-wicket stand.

"I am not happy at all with the last game," Hathurusingha said.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim talk with the coaches. Photo: Firoz Ahmed