Tigers hope to change dismal SA record from NZ Test victory spur

GBnews24desk//

Bangladesh ODI Captain Tamim Iqbal expected that their abysmal record in South Africa will be changed after getting a self-belief from the inspiration of Test victory against New Zealand a couple of months ago.

Like in New Zealand before that win in Mount Maunganui Test, Bangladesh have never won a match in South Africa in any format of the cricket.

While Bangladesh had gone 33-winless match before a Test victory in New Zealand, they in fact, have lost 19 matches across formats (six Tests, nine ODIs and four T20Is) in South Africa. Only time they could avoid a defeat in one ODI that was washed out in late 2008 in East London. But Tamim is hoping the dismal South Africa record will change this time.

“We are at such a stage in ODI cricket that we should not say anything other than winning. Not that I would say we want to play good cricket, as we have said 10 years ago today,” Tamim said here on Wednesday, reports BSS.

“Of course we’ll go with the mindset of victory. It is also true that it’s difficult. Our record there is not so good. The record is a thing that can be changed at any moment. Great example was the New Zealand Test. Where we’ve not played well in any format for a long time but we were able to change that. We will try to change the record we have in South Africa. We all know it’s challenging. They are a very good team in their condition. But we definitely want to win. We will do whatever it takes to do that. Then, if the result comes back very good. If not, we will work hard again.”

Having said that Tamim believed the team that he got had all the ingredients to win any match in any part of the world.

“We can win, we are proving off and on in various formats. If you think about New Zealand, we have never won a game in about 30-32 (33 matches). But the team has changed that. Hopefully, the team will be able to change this thing too,” he said.

“One thing I always believe is that if you are mentally fresh, whatever it is, you can do anything if you have that faith. I can say one thing with my team, everyone believes it is possible to get something good. I keep talking about points all the time because there is so much to notice now. We’ll try our best. Then let’s see what happens after the game.”