A series of low score like 16, 24, 19 in the first three matches of the World Cup isn’t acceptable from a batsman like Tamim Iqbal who unarguably is the best ever opener the Bangladesh have ever seen.
It’s also not acceptable for a batsman who is the highest scorer for Bangladesh in all three formats of cricket.
It’s a myth, which was established by captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza that Tamim’s start at the top is prelude to the success of Bangladesh. And it’s not overstatement. Bangladesh won most the matches when Tamim gave them a good start.
But that is not the case in this World Cup. Bangladesh are blessed to have an inform Shakib Al Hasan and dependable Mushfiqur Rahim, otherwise the way Tamim was playing, Bangladesh wouldn’t have won any match. But to their fortune, they beat a team like South Africa before losing to New Zealand and South Africa.
However if the law of average is taken into consideration, Shakib’s off day may come at any moment so it is mandatory Tamim to put his hands up.
His opening partner Soumya Sarkar started well in first two matches but couldn’t capitalize on his start. But as a senior batsman Tamim should take the onus to guide the junior like Soumya and others, which he couldn’t so.
Tamim’s reputation may prompt selectors not to drop him in case of failure even in the whole World Cup but with an inform top order batsman like Liton Das sitting idle in the bench, his continuous failure won’t bode well with cricket crazy fans.
So Tamim himself felt the heat. And it is evidenced in the way he was desperate to have some practice session despite consistent drizzle in Bristol on Sunday. He just came to the ground to have practice just after Bangladesh reached Bristol from Cardiff. The players were tired and they chose to take rest in their hotel room but Tamim refused to take rest.
As it was raining Tamim came to have an individual practice session at the indoor nets of the County Ground in Bristol. He went on to work on his game and faced throw-downs in the indoor nets of the venue for Bangladesh’s World Cup match against Sri Lanka on June 11.
The World Cup is a not a perfect platform for Tamim as the stat suggested that he averages only 22 in the global cricket tournament while his ODI average is 36.
However, former national skipper Shahriar Nafees believes a good knock from Tamim Iqbal is just round the corner.
“Tamim is not scoring big but in every match he is making a good start,” Shahriar told a private TV channel ahead of Bangladesh’s game against Sri Lanka.
