Sports Desk

Bangladesh pace bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib insisted that he reaped the benefit of a changed mindset against South Africa during the ICC T20 World Cup group-phase game in New York on Monday.

Tanzim’s career-best bowling performance of 3-18 went in vain as Bangladesh lost the game by four runs but that hardly could take away anything from the effort put up by the 21-year-old right-arm pace bowler as he wrecked through the South African top-order by maintaining the right line and length that helped him to pick three crucial wickets inside the power-play.

In the process, he repaid the faith of the team management and selectors as they included him in the 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup ahead of Mohammad Saifuddin.

“I have decided to give my best in every single ball in this World Cup and won’t take any delivery lightly as I am determined that if I bowl 24 deliveries, all the 24 deliveries should be my best one,” Tanzim told reporters in the mixed zone.

“I just made this change in my mentality that I won’t ball anything half-heartedly because if there is a yorker, it’s yorker and if it is a good length, it is a good length,” said Tanzim, adding that he was not carrying any mindset to prove anything to anyone.

“No there was nothing like that (trying to justify my selection) as my job is to perform. Wherever the selectors will give me the opportunity, I will perform there. I don’t think about any level because I am ready to perform anywhere,” he said.

Tanzim said that the pace bowling unit decided not to try too many things despite the wicket being conducive for them.

“In the team meeting yesterday, we discussed it and we were saying that when there is help on the wicket, the bowlers get excited and try to do a lot of things like my strength is outswing but I would like to try inswing (seeing help from the wicket).

“We decided that we would bowl according to our strength and basics like we would bowl in good areas and later the ball will do the work. We were following that method like bowling in good areas and in one place,” he concluded.