'Can't forget everything as a poor tour'

Question (Q): What is your current physical condition?

Tamim Iqbal (TI): I have to be in rehabilitation for the next two weeks and after that there will be another examination. Initially it looked like I might miss the first few games of the BPL but at the moment it's too early to say anything before completing the rehabilitation. But it's confirmed that I am going to miss the first two games of the BPL.

Q: How risky it is to play without recovering completely?

TI: My message is clear, to me the national team is important but I don't think it will be right for me to play without recovering properly and so I won't do that. The medical staff will not give me the clearance without being fully fit. The BPL is an important tournament for all and the upcoming Sri Lanka series will be a big one so no matter how many matches I miss in the BPL I will only return to field after recovering completely.

Q: How challenging will it be for the national players to perform after their disappointing series in South Africa?

TI: I hope it won't be difficult. We were not able to perform according to our potential in both the Test and ODI series in South Africa. We all have to take a lesson from everything [we did] and I think it was a big learning experience for us in South Africa. I am sure all the bowlers and batsmen have realised their mistakes and still we have two T20 games remaining so I hope the team will do well in that. To me the most important thing is not too forget the mistakes we made in South Africa and work accordingly for the future.

Q: What will be the next step?

TI: If we forget everything [and think of it] as a poor tour then we won't be able to improve from here. We have to rectify the mistakes and plan accordingly to move forward. The next World Cup in England is in 2019 and it will be tough for us there so we have to move forward keeping that in mind as well. Personally, [I think] the problems we faced on tour [are what] we have to do everything to improve on and if we can't, then we won't be able to improve.

Q: Did you think this tour would be so tough? Are you disappointed with the result?

TI: We knew that there would be difficult conditions but you can't only blame the conditions or the fact that we did not tour South Africa for long time, I won't give you such excuses. I think as a team and individually we were unable to perform to our potential. And it does not matter whether you are playing at home or abroad if you are not able to perform as a unit or individually. Obviously the conditions over there were a bit different and challenging but we could have performed better.

Q: There was a rumour that you had a clash with head coach Chandika Hathurusingha in South Africa. Can you clear up the issue?

TI: There has to be something to clear the issue? There was a letter given by the BCB to the media regarding the matter stating that nothing such happened. To me the whole matter was hilarious. I can understand when people make 25 into 30 percent if there is just five point difference. But something which has never happened being made into a big issue is nothing but a topic for laughter. I have no issue or problem with him [Hathurusingha]. I don't understand how this happened and it's disappointing.