I am Excited to Work with Neil Mckenzie - Tamim Iqbal

Tamim Iqbal, the veteran Bangladesh cricketer, is hopeful that the influence of new batting coach Neil Mckenzie is likely to help him a lot in the future.

Meanwhile, Tamim led the Bangladesh batting in the limited-overs series after their Test debacle. The southpaw noted that Mckenzie is helping the batsmen to cut out the negative thoughts from their head.

“Sometimes when you are going through a rough phase lot of negativity start creeping into your head,” Tamim told Cricbuzz. “You need someone to remind you during that lean phase your areas of strength [batting] so that you can make a turnaround and it can either come from within or from someone in the dressing room [like Neil Mckenzie],” he added.

The former Proteas batsmen joined Bangladesh after a humiliating Test series. Mckenzie, who has played 124 matches for South Africa replaced Thilan Samaraweera as batting consultant and will be available until the World Cup next year.

Excited to work with Neil Mckenzie: Tamim Iqbal

Iqbal admitted that Mckenzie has already put inputs which have helped him grow. Furthermore, he hopes to make the most out of him.

“I am personally excited to work with Neil McKenzie. He has already said things that will make me 5 to 10 percent better. I hope to take the most out of his time as Bangladesh’s batting coach,” said Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim added that his partnership with Shakib Al Hasan in the opening ODI helped them grow in confidence. He also credited the arrival of Mashrafe Mortaza behind Bangladesh’s turnaround. Tamim Iqbal admitted that Mortaza brought in a lot of positive influence which helped the side.

“Mashrafe bhai made a very big contribution to our turnaround. He didn’t bat or bowl for any of us but he changed the dressing room atmosphere, particularly after a bad Test series. He brought a positive vibe, which spread among all of us,” he concluded.