Brothers Union opener Tamim Iqbal called the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Prothisthan Ground-3 venue ‘horrible’ after his side’s 136-run victory over the Gazi Tank Cricketers in Duckworth/Lewis method on Sunday. ‘I am actually very disappointed with the ground,’ said Tamim, despite scoring 100 off 92 balls to take his team to 246 before a rain delay forced Gazi Tank to chase 244 in 38 overs.
‘I played well and that’s the reason why we scored 240 plus, but the thing that happened in the second innings here, in the next few days, the trend is likely to continue.
‘The league has been made List A, which ideally means that its standard has risen, but the venue where we played today, in my opinion, qualifying games should also not be played here, ’ he said.
‘It’s a horrible venue, horrible wicket; I have never played on such a wicket in my life.
‘I don’t think there should be any match played here in the future. The wicket wasn’t ready. The field wasn’t ready either,’ he continued, bemoaning the lack of facilities at the venue.
‘This morning I came here to go to the toilet, but the toilet doesn’t have any water and no arrangements. I had to go to the international hostel to finish my business and then come here. So if the venue is not ready, how do you play List A cricket there?
‘Maybe two years from now this might be a very good venue to play in. But at this point in time there should be no cricket played here.’
Venue aside, Tamim explained that the victory was particularly satisfying because of his personal relationship with Gazi Tank Cricketers owner Lutfur Rahman Badal.
‘Today’s game was very important for me. Actually for the good, because I always played for Badal’s team, so it was a challenge for me to play well against his side and win against them,’ he said.
‘Actually this was a challenge with Badal bhai, he used to make fun of me,
[saying] that I would get out in the first over. So after hitting [Mahmudullah] Riyad for boundaries I was showing the bat to him; this was just personal fun, nothing else.’
The Bangladesh national team opener also provided an update on the condition of the hand injury he has been playing through.
‘There is a tear in my hand, so Dr David Young told me to go to Australia whenever I get time. It might require an operation, or [it might] not [be] required. But I am not getting the time to go. Whenever I get one to one-and-a-half months, I will go.
‘It’s okay most of the time, but sometimes there is pain.’
-With New Age input
