Bangladesh national cricket team received a boost in South Africa when opener Tamim Iqbal joined the training session on Tuesday, though the team was still left waiting for pace bowler Rubel Hossain.
Tamim was expected to give a positive show when they would begin their campaign with a three-day practice match against South Africa Invitation XI at Sahara Park Willowmore in Benoni, near Johannesburg.
Tamim joined the team after completing his mission in Pakistan, where he played three Twenty20 internationals for the ICC World XI against the home side last week.
The left-handed opener was carrying a good batting form for quite some time and Tigers were looking for him to continue in challenging conditions in South Africa.
‘Tamim joining the practice is always special because not only he tries to improve his skill but at the same time he plays a big role in changing the team’s environment with his positive approach and mindset,’ said chief selector Minhajul Abedin, who is accompanying the team as manager.
Bangladesh visited South Africa only twice in the past and lost all matches so far.
Their result included four innings defeats in as many Tests in South Africa.
Minhajul reckoned that Bangladesh needed something special from Tamim if they are to change their fate this time.
‘He can dominate any international team and what I understand after watching him closely since his childhood it is unlikely that he will spare SA,’ he said.
‘If we want to succeed here we need to make sure that we put up a unified effort and we are confident that Tamim will lead the way for others to follow,’ he added.
Minhajul added that there was no injury concern at present and they were hoping to field all the squad members in the practice so that everyone could spend some time in the middle.
The only major concern for the Tigers at the moment is the unavailability of pace bowler Rubel Hossain, who could not fly to South Africa till filing this report due to an absence of immigration clearance.
Rubel returned from Dhaka airport on Saturday as the airline that carried the team to South Africa refused to issue a boarding pass as he did not have immigration clearance from the host country.
Unless Rubel gets his clearance immediately, he is almost certain to miss the team’s three-day warm-up match in Benoni.
Bangladesh Cricket Board chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury, however, is hopeful that the matter will be resolved soon.
‘We are in touch with Cricket South Africa and hopefully, the matter will be resolved soon. He will fly to South Africa with the first available flight once the matter is resolved,’ he said.
-With New Age input
