‘Spin is not the only point of focus’

Bangladesh star batsman Tamim Iqbal says that while everybody has been eager to focus on spin as the determining component of Australia's tour of Bangladesh, the Tigers however, are not only focused on spinners.

He focused on the fact that during Bangladesh's recent Test matches, the England pace bowlers picked up wickets as well.

"To be honest we are not only thinking about spin. We know we are playing a well-rounded Australian team who are fantastic and very professional.

"To play them [Australia] well we will have to handle their pace bowling and spin bowling both. We are not only preparing for spin bowling because we have to score against all their players if we want to do well.

Regarding the fact that both him and Shakib Al Hasan are set to reach the landmark of 50 Tests together, Tamim said: "It's a nice achievement that me and Shakib are both playing in our 50th Tests but at the end of the day if there aren't any memorable performances to mark this landmark then it would just be a number."

Tamim felt that the last two years have seen an improvement in the number of Test matches played by Bangladesh.

"There was a point where I was not sure if I would make it to 50 Tests but now we are playing more Test matches than before so those who will make their debuts now will find it easier to set the numbers."

The opener said he was proud to be representing the World XI side for the tour of Pakistan. He said: "I think we are doing a fantastic thing by making these arrangements and hopefully they [Pakistan] will be able to host the matches successfully.

"We can hope that more international team will visit them (Pakistan) in the future if the tournament is successful," Tamim added.