Tamim Iqbal, who was named as Bangladesh's captain for the Sri Lanka tour after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was ruled out of the squad due to a hamstring injury, talked to the reporters in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport before departing for Sri Lanka to play a three match ODI series against the Lankans. Tamim hoped to do well in the series despite missing a few senior players in the squad.

"I think it is a very important series for us. The team that are touring, have a lot to prove. A number of experienced players are not going due to injuries and different other reasons. I think this will be a very challenging series for us. Sri Lanka are a very strong side in their home condition. But we played well in the last few series. So there are no reasons why we can not do well in this series," said the dashing opener.

Tamim had no idea he was going to be captaining the side until the last moment when Mashrafe was ruled out of the squad after suffering a hamstring injury during Tigers' last training session at home ahead of the tour. All-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin was also left out of the squad in the last moment due to a lower back injury. Pacer Taskin Ahmed was named as a replacement for Saifuddin while all-rounder Farhad Reza was included in the squad as Mashrafe's replacement. 

Tamim, who had a lean World Cup, said that he would remain positive despite all the injury concerns and last-minute changes in the squad.

"I am not thinking so much about these. If we concentrate too much on the negatives, we will face such negative situations. We have to be positive and that is what I am trying to be as well. I have to be positive." concluded Tamim.