Tamim Iqbal on England's "special" tour of Bangladesh after 2016 terror attack
England's recent tour of Bangladesh formed a key part of their preparation for the upcoming 50-over World Cup, with captain Jos Buttler saying ahead of the series it was "exactly the kind of challenge we need".
But for Bangladesh, it meant so much more with ODI captain Tamim Iqbal delighted to welcome England back for the first time in almost seven years.
England last visited in October 2016, just three months after the deadliest Islamist terror attack in the country's history which saw a group of five gunmen attack a cafe in the capital city Dhaka. Armed with assault rifles and machetes, the terrorists opened fire on the cafe and took diners hostage - shooting or hacking to death 22 civilians and two police officers.
Following a 12-hour stand-off, commandos from the Bangladesh army stormed the cafe, rescuing 13 hostages and killing all five gunmen. The incident left England extremely concerned ahead of their trip to Bangladesh, particularly given it was just seven years after the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by a group of terrorists while touring Pakistan and eight years after England called off a tour of India due to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
A number of players expressed their concerns and after the ECB confirmed the tour would go ahead as planned, white ball captain Eoin Morgan and opener Alex Hales declined a call-up citing security worries. England fan group the Barmy Army also said they would not be travelling to Bangladesh, with Foreign Office advice at the time warning UK residents against visiting the country.
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However, the tour went off without a hitch and Iqbal, who was the leading run scorer in the Test series, says England "will always have a special place in our hearts" for visiting Bangladesh in the wake of the attack. "I thought the courage that England showed was amazing and every Bangladeshi has special memories of that because it would have been very easy for them to say no," he told Mirror Sport in an exclusive interview.
"We needed that at that time. I still remember all the citizens of Bangladesh wanted them to come, wanted the series to go ahead. The Prime Minister [Sheikh Hasina] was extremely close with cricket, she actually follows cricket very, very closely and she did everything in her power to make sure that England had the best security and the best facilities. It was something special and England will always have a special place in our hearts for what they did for us in 2016."
England received security from Bangladesh commandos the last time they toured the country in 2016, just three months after a horrific terrorist attack (AFP/Getty)Seven years on from that tour, England made their long-awaited return to Bangladesh and this time no players opted out due to security concerns, while the Barmy Army led a contingent of visiting supporters. "It was amazing to bring them back to Bangladesh," Tamim added.
"I'm not saying this just because I'm a Bangladeshi or because I'm the captain, but I think Bangladesh is an extremely safe country and the people are so so so passionate about cricket. Not only for us, but whenever a touring team comes to Bangladesh they have been treated equally. I think they get all the respect when they are in Bangladesh, not only when they are playing, but if they decide to go to a restaurant or go for a walk in the street all the people have been very respectful."
Tamim only featured in the ODI series after retiring from T20Is last year, with England becoming the first side to beat Bangladesh at home in an ODI series since their last visit before then getting whitewashed 3-0 in their first T20I outing since winning the World Cup. "It wasn't a great ODI series for us, but I think ODIs are the one format that we do extremely well," he explained.
"Unfortunately we lost to England in 2016, but in between we never lost a series [at home] and now we've lost again to England this time. The first game was extremely close. I thought that we were in a situation where we could have posted maybe 30-35 runs more, but unfortunately we couldn't.
"The game went to a very, very tight finish where one individual was better than the other 21 on the field and that was Dawid Malan. He took the game away completely from us [with an unbeaten 114] and sometimes that happens - a piece of individual brilliance. In that particular game we tried everything, but England played exceptionally well and sometimes individual brilliance can take over."
As double World Champions, England have made huge strides in white ball cricket in recent years and Tamim was part of the Bangladesh side which knocked them out of the 2015 World Cup and really sparked that transformation, even if he does not have fond memories of his own performance in that game. "I dropped a catch off Chris Woakes and we almost lost that game," he recalled with a wry smile.
"But no, it was a really great victory for us especially as it was in Australia where we don't go too often. I still believe England had a fantastic side in 2015, but unfortunately they didn't qualify and that's a different issue.
Tamim was part of the Bangladesh side that knocked England out of the 2015 World Cup (Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)"To beat them was fantastic and it's also fantastic to see how they came back after 2015 and now they are the World Champions in both formats. And there is a reason, the way they are playing cricket is something really nice to see and something really fresh even if we didn't see much of those things in Bangladesh for obvious reasons."
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Tamim has also enjoyed seeing England's new 'Bazball' approach in Test cricket, admitting it is "something I've never seen before" and that he would love to play them again before he retires. And a similarly positive and aggressive approach with the bat is exactly what he has become known for in his career, notably smashing two thrilling centuries at around a run a ball when Bangladesh visited England for a two Test series back in 2010.
However, Bangladesh have not returned to England for a series of any kind since then and are not scheduled for one under the current ICC Future Tours Program, which runs until 2027. New ECB chair Richard Thompson was in Bangladesh for the recent tour and it has been reported that talks are being held in a bid to find room in the schedule for Bangladesh to visit England again.
Tamim celebrates a 94-ball hundred at Lord's in 2010 - the last time Bangladesh toured England (Julian Herbert/Getty Images)And Tamim is desperate for another opportunity to tour England after his twin centuries at Lord's and Old Trafford 13 years ago. "That's a long way away now, 2010," he said when asked about those two hundreds. "But those innings I will always remember, scoring a hundred in England is not easy especially for a team like us. The memories are something that, when I've finished cricket, I will take forever in my heart.
"Those two are really close to my heart, but the most important thing is you guys need to invite us more often. That was the last time we played there, which is unfortunate. Bangladesh is in a situation now where we should tour Australia and England more often and I don't know why that doesn't happen. It's been 13 years now and we haven't been back to England. It's sad actually that we haven't toured again after doing so well, especially in white ball cricket."
And with a strong Bangladeshi community in the UK, a tour would surely lead to sell outs. "I can guarantee you it will be less England fans and more Bangladeshi fans for sure," Tamim added. "If you remember the 2017 Champions Trophy, we actually outnumbered the English fans and I think whatever format we play, if we get invited to play in England, it will be a full house."
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