'I want to score 10,000 runs in either format'
Tamim Iqbal talks about rediscovering his batting form through 2015, and Bangladesh's shortage of cricket this year
The year 2010 was a great one for me. In 2015, I knew what I was trying to achieve. I planned and I achieved. I wanted to score 1000 runs in all formats in 2015. My goal was to average 50-plus in Tests and ODIs, which I almost did. It was a more pleasing year, as a result.
After Pakistan declared on 628, we knew it was going to be really hard for us to save that Test match. Even if it was the best wicket in the world, it would be hard. Imrul asked me, "What's the plan?" I said, "We will take them on."
The first ODI hundred was more important for me because I was struggling leading up to the series. The World Cup wasn't my best tournament. There was a lot of talk about my selection. After getting a hundred, I was relaxed. Before the hundred, I was too focused on scoring runs.
We had already won the series 2-0 and we knew we were going to win that game as well. We were in the middle of a big partnership. When you face this situation, you laugh and joke in the middle. We get into these situations often in the Dhaka Premier League but we don't get this at the international level all the time. When we were getting the results, we said, why not? And I must say that he was also playing the sort of innings that would have made anyone else do what I was doing.
When you are very confident about your batting, there will be a year or two when you will score runs with a couple of shots. Then the next year, you will get it with a different shot.
There are a few shots that stay with you forever. It is just a matter of time when it comes out. I didn't want to follow anyone. It comes naturally to me. I know a lot of West Indian players do it, but I just do it out of instinct.
When you are charging a bowler, they start to think about you. When you are in a defensive mood, you think about that bowler. It gives him the edge but when he is thinking about you, it gives you the edge.
It is true that people look up to me, but I have to keep performing in the same way. My responsibility is to work even harder and achieve new things. In spite of my form, people in the dressing room like me. It could be how I behave with them. I feel I am lucky to be liked so much.
Fitness won't make you score hundreds, skills will. But fitness will make you play for longer. It is more important for the senior players, because I can't really be a Sabbir Rahman. I can be someone who can be very fit within my limitations. It would give me an extra year in international cricket.
I want to play for another six years. I really want to score 10,000 runs in either format. In Tests it is looking impossible, but if I play another 150 ODIs really well, it is possible.
After such a great season, we are not playing for eight months. It would definitely hamper us. People should be more interested in playing against us, but instead we are sitting on the sidelines. We don't know how we are going to play. There's no team in the world apart from Zimbabwe which sits out for so long between matches.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84