Media to blame for criticism of my captaincy: Tamim
Tamim, who succeeded Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as captain in ODIs, did not impress a lot of people with his captaincy in the recently concluded BCB President's Cup. Hence, criticism was in the air regarding his captaincy and it has been widely discussed whether captaincy would put extra pressure on the southpaw.
Tamim Iqbal is yet to lead the Bangladesh national cricket team after being appointed full-time skipper for ODIs as Covid-19 broke out soon after. Now there is a challenge ahead of him as captain as he is going to lead Fortune Barishal in the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 cup.
Tamim, who succeeded Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as captain in ODIs, did not impress a lot of people with his captaincy in the recently concluded BCB President's Cup. Hence, criticism was in the air regarding his captaincy and it has been widely discussed whether captaincy would put extra pressure on the southpaw.
When asked about it, a visibly displeased Tamim claimed that this has been overhyped by the media. "I am yet to play an international match as captain. This (pressure of captaincy) has been overhyped by you guys (journalists)," he commented.
In addition, the 31-year old said, "I said the very day I got the captaincy that you should give a verdict on my captaincy six months or a year later. No matter how good or bad a leader is, he needs time. You start talking about the pressure of captaincy after two-three matches. A baby needs nine months to learn how to walk. Therefore, you should decide whether my captaincy affects my performance after at least 20 matches."
But this criticism doesn't bother the ODI skipper. "I don't worry about this. I have said before that captaincy is something I did not dream of. Now that I have got it, I will try my best to make it count."
Tamim seeks time before people start talking negatively about his leadership. "Whoever becomes the captain, he needs time to prove himself. I am not saying this because I am the captain. It is not good for the team or the individual to criticise the captain after one or two series," Tamim mentioned.
The southpaw reckons that not necessarily one has to be the captain to become the leader of the team. "Obviously the captain has an extra responsibility. I will try to do what it takes to do well. I do this always anyway, whether I am the captain or not. It is not necessary to be the captain to lead the team. You have to talk less and work more as a leader," he concluded.