No excuses, says Tamim

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal said that there were no excuses for not carrying on and making his score of 46 a bigger knock. Bangladesh got a better start from the top-order at St Lucia following a run of batting collapses but Tamim was left ruing the fact that when they weathered the early storm and got a positive start, the middle part of the innings saw a collapse.

Just as batting consultant Jamie Siddons, Tamim felt they were short of a good score after being bundled out for 234 while he added that his side were too expensive with the ball as Windies raced to 67 for no loss in 16 overs.

“I think the wicket was up and down but we should’ve batted better. If we had scored 300 to 320, it would have been a better score cause wicket was a little up and down. Even in bowling if we had given away 25 to 30 runs less then it would have been better. Since the way the normally bat, they don’t score as quickly apart from Campbell.

“Since they didn’t lose any wickets, they are ahead for sure,” the opener said.

Tamim himself had gotten off to a great start during his 46-run knock but then got a delivery from Alzarri Joseph that bounced a little more than he anticipated. The delivery caught him high on the bat as he went for a drive on the up and the ball looped to point for an easy catch.

“Normally when you get a start such as this, my innings usually get bigger. It’s unfortunate. I thought I could’ve left that delivery alone but the ball rose more than it was supposed to which is why it hit the sticker of my bat.

“I am not someone who will come here with excuses. I think when I am getting starts as a senior member of the team, I should make it big. There are no excuses,” he said.

Tamim rued the fact that after being 100 for two wickets, the middle-order partnerships did not produce more meaningful contributions. There were no fifty stands in the Bangladesh innings despite a couple of batters getting starts.

“We had a platform ready and, in that situation, if we could have gotten 50 or 60 runs in that partnership, then we could have been in a very good situation and maybe we could have batted the whole day today.  So basically, we’re not doing it at the top end or it’s not happening in the middle. As a team, as a batting unit maybe we’re not doing well,” he concluded.