Tamim’s tricky road ahead

It was a picture of a happy dressing room, Bangladesh players taking pride in their new-found strength from the depths of defeat after all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz's heroics, with only Mustafizur Rahman for company, helped clinch the first ODI against India in Mirpur. Shakib Al Hasan himself was one of those lending a shoulder on the occasion as Miraz was hoisted in the air.

One key man missing from that picture, however, was none other than ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal himself, who had missed out due to a groin injury and in his absence, Liton Das had led the side to a 2-1 series win. Even as the ODI team now looks very settled, the challenges for the captain with new coach Chandika Hathurusingha's imminent arrival is set to go up a notch.

Tamim last featured for the Tigers in August last year and having already retired from T20I format, his main task would be to put all his efforts into the upcoming ODI World Cup in India, which in all likelihood will be his and many of the team's stalwarts' last outing in the ODI showpiece event. The strength and the experience in their arsenal mean that the Tigers head to the event in their strongest form.

Injuries have not been kind to Tamim recently as he missed the Tests in New Zealand at the beginning of 2022 where Tigers drew after a historic win -- their first in any format in New Zealand -- in Mount Maunganui after missing key Tests due to thumb fracture against Pakistan at home in 2021 and a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2021.

Tamim missed out on India's entire tour of Bangladesh in December last year and then opted out of inconsequential BPL games for Khulna Tigers to recover for the upcoming England series. Thus, not only will Hathurusingha be renewing old ties upon his return, the captain needs to galvanise his troops to lead them through key processes, crucial to World Cup success.

Hathurusingha is set to arrive today and has already chalked out most of the plans for the England series. This series will be a key for the Sri Lankan's adjustment to the side but according to sources, the Lankan is already eying the preparations of the World Cup. In his previous stint, he had a captain like Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who had both inspired and protected players from criticism. That show of faith led to a very successful 2015 World Cup campaign.

With little tweaks only needed to the side before the World Cup, the England series will be important for Tamim as it is the most reliable gauge of team performance against a big side ahead of the World Cup. But in Hathurusingha, known as a hard taskmaster, injuries to the captain can become an issue from series to series.

The BCB officials have even recently reiterated that there was no controversy in Tamim heading to the World Cup as the captain. While it was learned that Shakib had asked for the captaincy in all three formats, the BCB finally gave the all-rounder keys to the Test and the T20I side to settle the debate.

The BCB wants at least a pool of 18 to 20 players who will be focused on for the World Cup and Tamim has already held discussions regarding his future plans. His own performances at showpiece events have not always been rosy with the 2019 World Cup being a disappointment on a personal level. Thus, team culture, relationship with the coach and the management, and his own personal ambition as a key player and captain, comes to the fore for Tamim as World Cup preparations set sail under Hathurusingha.