‘Shakib and I were always thinking of a win’

Bangladesh lost by a big-margin of 132 runs in the second ODI to lose the series against England 2-0 with a game to go. After England put up 326 for seven, it was always going to be difficult but the task was made more difficult by the loss of three wickets very early. Skipper Tamim Iqbal had to field questions regarding a lack of intent during the chase.

After Sam Curran picked up Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim's wicket in quick succession, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan had to rebuild and put on a 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket off 111 deliveries. Tamim said the duo never willingly looked to bat out the innings and get to a respectable score.

"Look, if this was 10 to 15 years back and we were in this position, we would have played for a respectable score after losing three to four wickets.  

"Now when Shakib and I were batting, we were always thinking of a win. You have to rebuild and take some time and that is the reason we played the shots we did. We wanted to progress as much as we could," he said about him and Shakib getting out to lofted shots.

While Tamim managed 35 off 65, Shakib hit 58 in his 400th international outing. Before Tamim perished, the partnership looked like it could bring Bangladesh back into the chase after three wickets fell inside three overs for just nine runs. Bangladesh were bowled out for 194, unable to play the full quota of overs.

"If we had accepted defeat after losing three wickets, the game would have been different [than what it was]. I don't think we were in that stage. Even if they scored 400, we would have tried. Whether we would succeed or not is another matter but we would have tried. The period where Shakib and I batted, we tried but 30 or 50 wasn't enough for chasing down this target," he said.

Mustafizur Rahman's performances have not been the best this series and has come under criticism. Tamim felt that the left-arm pacer would be served better if he can improve wicket-taking skills.

"There is no such thing as auto-choice. Even I am not an auto-choice and neither is anyone else in the team. It's true I have a lot of faith in him [Mustafizur]. I think he will be able to give his best as he had done before. He has very good defensive skills and maybe he needs to improve his wicket-taking skill. I believe he will comeback," Tamim concluded.