Bangladesh cricket superstars Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were among six Bangladesh players to have registered for England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB’s) inaugural draft for The Hundred.

When Bangladesh stand-in captain Tamim Iqbal walked into the media room of the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday, there was a smile on his face, probably in anticipation of the kind of questions that would be thrown at him ahead of the third and potentially face-saving ODI against Sri Lanka today.

Tamim Iqbal, who was named as Bangladesh's captain for the Sri Lanka tour after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was ruled out of the squad, talks to the reporters in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport before departing for Sri Lanka to play a three match ODI series against the Lankans. Tamim hopes to do well in the series despite missing a few senior players in the squad.

One of the recurring themes of Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign has been the disappointing performance of the one batsman most fans would have been looking at to set the biggest stage alight for the Tigers.

“I think we still have a chance. I don’t think any of my teammates are thinking along those lines [a fifth-place finish]. We have a chance if we win three matches. If God forbid we don’t have anything to play for, then we will think about No 5.”

The gloomy weather yesterday in Cardiff, where it rained heavily until late afternoon, did no favours to Bangladesh ahead of today’s World Cup match against World Cup favourites and hosts England. Tamim Iqbal is feeling the same. In that regard, I think we have been a little unlucky.

Bangladesh’s preparations ahead of their first World Cup match against South Africa at The Oval on Sunday seemed to have sustained a huge blow as Tamim Iqbal walked off the nets at south London’s iconic venue clutching his left forearm after being hit in the area by a ball during net practice around noon yesterday.

The ongoing tour of New Zealand has long been anticipated to be a crucial and testing one for Bangladesh. The Tigers are playing