We’re here to win, not to show our improvement: Tamim

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal expressed his disappointment at the five-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the second ODI which forced them to lose the three-match series with a game to go, stating that they squandered a golden opportunity to beat New Zealand for the first time on their den.

The Tigers got a home like condition in Christchurch and compiled a competitive 271-6 after which they made them favourtie in the game, reducing New Zealand to 53-3 in 11th over. From this position, it was very much Bangladesh’s game but wayward fielding, coupled by missing some important catches, specially those of Tom Latham, who scored a match winning 110 not out, cost visitors the game.

“We had never got a good opportunity like this in the past to beat them and we should win this game,” Tamim said after the match.

“Everyday you won’t get such opportunity to beat a team outside of the country. We batted well today even though the wicket was slow and tricky. 271 was a good score and at the same time, we reduced them to 53-3. The game was in our favour but we put down some chances. If we could have held on those chances, we won the match. I am really disappointed that we couldn’t utilize the opportunity,” he added.

Bangladesh conceded an eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI after being shot out for 131. Here they batted well and put much better show than the previous game. But Tamim said they didn’t come here to show their improvement, rather they came here to win the match.

“I was asked whether it was a big improvement, considering the performance of the last match. Yes, it’s an improvement but personally I think, we are not here to show our improvement, we are here to win the game. Today we had a golden opportunity which we couldn’t utilize. We squandered the chances,” he remarked.

Tamim further said he is tired to find out the positives from the game and didn’t want to make any excuse for this defeat. “There are many positives to take from this game. But who is the captain, must get tired to say these positive things repeatedly,” Tamim said.

“There are three or four positive things that I could reveal but it’s not my objective. My goal is to win the game, for which we came here and the opportunity won’t come always. Yes, if you talk about improvement, there are some improvements definitely but this doesn’t matter. We actually couldn’t do what actually matters.”