Tanzid unfazed by World Cup venue uncertainty

Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim said that the recent discussion surrounding uncertainty over the T20 World Cup venue is not “affecting him” as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are in the middle of a dialogue, despite his Rajshahi Warriors captain Najmul Hossain Shanto stating that such issues always affect players, adding that “we are acting and it’s not easy.”

Bangladesh’s participation remains in question after the BCB asked the ICC to relocate their venues from India to Sri Lanka, citing security reasons, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Mustafizur Rahman from their upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) squad due to political tension between the two nations.

“No, not at all,” he said on Wednesday before Rajshahi’s practice session at Mirpur when asked about the World Cup uncertainty. “You all know that the BCB and the ICC are in communication so that we can go to the World Cup and play in a suitable and safe place. I believe they’re working on this properly, so I don’t want to comment further on that.”

Bangladesh were supposed to play three of their four group matches in Kolkata before moving to Mumbai for the final game. But at the moment, less than a month before the scheduled World Cup, Bangladesh do not know where they will play their first match.

But Tanzid again avoided the concern by saying, “No, it’s not disturbing.” The left-hander also highlighted the national team’s batting camp after the Ireland series at home back in December. “After the last series, we actually had a batting camp, and I think that helped the batsmen a lot. Since after the Bangladesh Premier League we won’t have much time, whatever preparation we take has to be within the BPL,” he said.

“Here we’re facing different kinds of match situations, which I think will be very useful for the World Cup. In the matches where I didn’t score runs, I tried to figure out what exactly I was doing wrong and where my shortcomings were. I’ve been thinking about those things and working on them. So if I can perform consistently from now on, that will help both me and the team,” he added.

Tanzid did not score big at the start of this year’s BPL but found form in his last innings against the Dhaka Capitals, where he scored 76 to win the game for the Warriors.

“If you’re in good touch, things usually get better afterwards. The first few matches were a bit poor for most of us, but everyone is trying to overcome that and perform consistently. I can see that most players are now doing that, which should give us some confidence for the World Cup,” he said.

When asked about the chance of a possible championship as Rajshahi are leading the points table after the Sylhet phase, he said, “About the trophy — everything has a process. If you start thinking first that you’re going to win the trophy, it may not happen. We have to go match by match: win each game, then the qualifier, then the final. We’re moving forward with that mission, step by step, towards the trophy. If the process is right, then Insha’Allah something good will happen,” he said.