‘Bunked classes to watch Tamim bhai bat’

On working on fitness under lockdown: It's a difficult thing to sit at home when you are a sportsperson. I'm trying to work at home with the little means I have. I got a dumbbell online to do what I can manage.

On watching old matches: Yeah I do that, search for old matches online too. If you turn on the TV, you also find the old matches being shown. I get to watch myself and also legendary players. Then there are the important matches or special innings from big players which I watch.

On what he tries to absorb from these viewings: I try to compare and think about what I would do if I find myself in the situations that those players found themselves in during a certain match scenario. It's not easy to understand what they are doing by just looking at the batsman. If you can see the whole scenario, you get a better reflection. Just focusing on one batsman will tell you that how he hit a boundary or how he defended. That doesn't tell the full story.

On getting out after promising starts: I have gotten out in 30s or 50s and I would have had more fifties…might even have converted a few of those to hundreds if I could stay on at the crease. I have gotten out to small mistakes and my career would have looked better if I had been able to convert a few of those innings into big scores.

On his aggressive nature with the bat: I try to look at opponents' bowling videos a day before matches and try to find out which areas they bowl well in. If there are bowlers I have faced before, I look at how I have struck fours and sixes against them. I try to give myself confidence because in cricket you have to play with confidence and daring. I try to get rid of nervousness and when that happens, the bowler usually diverts from his plans even if he is bowling well.

On whether his career should have been in a better position: I do feel that [career could have been better placed]. Lots of batsmen leave good deliveries alone but in my case I sometimes hit good deliveries and get out to loose deliveries. To me, the decision making then appears to be soft. So I think of those things and try to see myself and also others.

On whom he looks up to: From childhood I have been watching cricket and so have my family. In my younger days, Sourav Ganguly was a favourite player and it was after seeing him that I started batting left-handed and bowled right-handed. Yuvraj [Singh] was another one I liked because of his power cricket. With the ball I would look up to Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] bhai. Shakib bhai is one who is special and I like him a lot. When I got admitted to BKSP, I started liking him. When I was in Class VII or VIII, Tamim [Iqbal] bhai used to play for DOHS. When I didn't have classes, I used to go and watch him bat. Actually I even bunked classes to watch him bat.

On the return of Premier League with sports returning elsewhere: It has to take place. We are dependent on it. We [national team players] also don't have any income when no international matches take place, so it's important for us as well.

But our system and their system [outside the country] won't be the same. It's not just about a certain club or ground being okay to play. Not just about the players but also where the food is coming from and what work everyone is doing.

Not everyone stays in Dhaka, so many will have to stay at the clubs. Let's say the clubs keep the players under good conditions but the food will have to be brought from the bazaar and then five more people will be involved in serving food. You will have a driver to get you to the ground. Lot of things are involved and you can't just think that the challenge will be getting to the ground.