Tamim keeps his words
"We are at such a stage (in ODIs) that we can't say we are going to just 'play good cricket' now. We will definitely go there with a goal to win matches," said Tamim on 9 March.
Bangladesh team left the country for South Africa on 11 March. Two days before they travelled, ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal told the media that his team would be going to South Africa to win matches. Tamim knew 'playing good cricket' isn't just good enough anymore. But Tamim was talking about winning in South Africa, where they never won in 20 years.
"We are at such a stage (in ODIs) that we can't say we are going to just 'play good cricket' now. We will definitely go there with a goal to win matches," said Tamim on 9 March.
"It's true and tough at the same time. We don't have a very good record there, but that can change anytime with a single victory," he added.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Fast forward nine days, his team sealed their first-ever victory on the Protea soil, beating the home side comfortably by 38 runs on 18 March. They stumbled in the second ODI by losing the game by 7 wickets.
But in the third ODI, they created history. They beat South Africa by a massive 9 wickets and clinched their first-ever series win against the Proteas on their home ground.
Taskin bagged a five-for, was adjudged both player of the match and player of the series. Skipper Tamim Iqbal played a captain's knock of unbeaten 87 runs to guide his team home.
And the Tigers are currently on top of the ICC CWC Super League with 120 points from 18 matches.
"We take a lot of pride in ODI cricket, we believe we are a good side. This is one format where we have been doing well in the last 5-6 years. Winning a series overseas was missing, but we have managed to do that this time," Tamim said at the post-match presentation.
He also admitted this series win is one of the biggest achievements in Bangladesh's cricket, and rightly so. He kept his words when it mattered the most.
