We’ve let ourselves down: Tamim

Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Tamim Iqbal today conceded that the team has let itself down in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, while saying that senior players like himself and Mahmudullah have failed to step up when the team needed them to do so.

Bangladesh have lost the first two ODIs, by big margin, and will look to avoid series whitewash against the hosts in the third and final match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo tomorrow.

Left-handed opener Tamim, who was entrusted with the captain’s role in absence of regular skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, said they failed in all three departments despite coming into the series with high hopes. 

“We had lots of high hopes coming into this series,” Tamim told a press conference today. “We've let ourselves down. We had our moments which we couldn't capitalise. And I think we have ourselves to blame. Sri Lanka played some good cricket and they were the better side.”

While most of the team members have come under criticism for their indifferent form in Sri Lanka, Tamim’s own batting has particularly raised serious questions. He failed to get off the mark in the first match before scoring only 19 runs in the second match. 

The 30-year-old said he has gone through similar draughts in the past and hopes that this lean patch will be over soon. “Every day I hope that it would be today [I get a big score], but I'm getting out to the same dismissal in a different way maybe. As a cricketer you have to keep on believing. The good thing is this is not the first time that I'm seeing this. I've experienced this before.” 

However, the left-hander did admit that seniors like himself and Mahmudullah have failed to step up to the task and set an example for the youngsters. “When the team is not doing well, you look after the senior players like me and Mahmudullah who have scored a lot of runs and have lot of experience to step up. I feel me as an individual player, I failed. We, the senior players, have failed. But I always believe it’s not forever. It will end and I’ll start scoring runs,” Tamim said.