“I thought throughout the series we played really tough cricket,” Tamim said. “Chasing 320 in 45 overs, regardless of the ground size or opposition, is a hard task. The way we batted was amazing. Today, it is a very special game for me. We have always seen this kind of situation on the other side. We lost from such winning positions especially with the ball.”
“The bowling unit will get incredible confidence from this win. It wasn’t easy to defend 274 at this ground. I thought we did a great job,” Tamim said. “Miraz’s bowling inspired me to take a chance with Shanto. He took a wicket in the first over and so I continued with him. The match turned on its head in his three overs and Mustafizur’s overs.”
“[Shanto] has been playing really well in the last two or three series,” Tamim said. “He is scoring quite regularly, which is a great thing for us. We could never nail down the No. 3 position but I think he has cemented his place [by] not just scoring runs but the way he fields, too. He gives his 100% everywhere. He is a great team man.
“[Mahmud] has been impressive. He is world-class, particularly with the new ball. He is a very young guy but has an old head. He is calm under pressure. It is a great learning for him. You can bowl thousands of balls in the nets but to deliver under this pressure is something else.”
But there is a lot of room for improvement for Bangladesh.
“I think we should have batted a bit better, especially in a situation like today’s game,” Tamim said. “We were batting at six [runs] an over in the first 25 overs. We should have scored 310-315. We are playing without one [extra] batter. All of us should have taken a little bit more responsibility.
“I am overall happy with this series. We chased 320 successfully. We didn’t defend games like today [in the past] but did it here. There are more positives than negatives.”
“Mrittunjoy didn’t bowl from an easy end,” Tamim said. “An inch here and there in length, it would go for a six. He bowled very well. He knows he can do better. Contributions from everyone made the win possible today. We didn’t think we would win the game. Some brilliance changed the game.”