Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal declared himself available for the three-match ODI series opener against Afghanistan despite not being hundred percent fit. Tamim's availability has remained a major concern for Bangladesh with the veteran batter missing out on the one-off Test last month due to back issues.
Tamim didn't look comfortable in practice following that assignment and struggled with back during the fielding and batting sessions as well. The left-handed opener batted against throwdowns for 20 minutes at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday but did not partake in today's session.
"I'm definitely available for tomorrow. Physically, I am in a better state than before but I won't say I am at hundred percent," Tamim told reporters at Chattogram. "After the game tomorrow, I will be able to understand what's the situation but till now, [the decision is] I am playing tomorrow," he said.
The Bangladesh captain, however, was quick to add that he wouldn't override medical advice to push himself in match play. "I think that's more of an idea because I need to see how much I am able to cope and how much I can't," said Tamim. "But I won't do something through which the team suffers. I always say that the team comes before any individual.
"Right now I feel that I am ready for tomorrow, but during the game if I feel that I am not ready and it can be too risky then I, along with the medical department, will take a decision. For now I am fit to play tomorrow and let's see what happens next match," he added.
Bangladesh have not announced their ODI vice-captain officially but Cricbuzz understands that Litton Das will lead the side if Tamim fails to play. When asked whether he feels he needs a deputy, Tamim said that that decision was not his to make.
"The captain and the vice-captain is decided by the board and my opinion in this regard is unnecessary. I don't think any captain says that he needs him as vice-captain or he needs that person. If the board feels it is necessary in that case they will decide accordingly.
"I am sure there are lot of cricketers in our team who is capable of doing it (vice-captaincy). It will be great if the board decides to appoint a vice-captain because normally in every format there is a captain and a vice-captain," he said.
Tamim said that he is expecting a tough challenge from the Afghans after a rather comfortable victory in the Test and added that Bangladesh will consider a different pace bowling combination for the series.
"They are one of the best bowling units in white-ball format so I am expecting it to be challenging and it is not like we will walk in the park and win the game because we have to give our best to win the game," he said.
"With the fast bowling unit, whoever has played has done extremely well in the last one and half years. We might go different pace bowling combination in the three matches. It is true that if there was a pace bowling all-rounder it would have been good but no one is performing in the domestic cricket. There was Saifuddin but he is not fit at the moment," he said
Tamim clarified that he would like to give chances in the XI to Mohammad Naim and Afif Hossain with an eye on the World Cup.
"We will try to give chance to everyone in this series but that is not guaranteed. We want to give chance but that is not necessary because if something is going well there is no point breaking it but at the same time we would love to give Naim some game time before the World Cup as he batting well in the nets. There is Afif too and we have the (urgency) of playing him as well," he said.
"I don't feel who are in the reserve should play a game straight away in a big tournament. If we can give one or two chances to them it will be good for them.You will get an idea which way we are going after seeing the playing XI tomorrow that we have selected. Whether we go with one extra batsman or bowler like we did in the previous series largely depends on seeing the opposition and we would like to do that," he added.
