‘It looked like seventh day track’

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has created a sensation by making back-to-back century in Lord’s and Old Trafford. His style and free flowing scoring have already earned him a comparison with Indian opener Virender Sehwag and West Indies captain Chris Gayle. Tamim spoke to reporters after his 108 off 114 balls in the first innings of the second Test at Old Trafford on Saturday. Here are the excerpts.
Q: After Lord’s you have made a century at Old Trafford also. How does it feel?
TI: Personally it always feels good when you get a hundred. But is it only the team that matters. We could not play well despite a very good start. After a 126-run opening stand the way our innings ended, I cannot be happy. If we had at least five or six wickets in hand, I would say we had a good day.
Q: Did you ever think something like this could happen after such a good start?
TI: No, never at all. What followed was really very bad. Really we did not play well.
Q: What was the situation in the dressing room at the end of day?
TI: We were very disappointed. Now we are realising what a good opportunity we wasted. But we are still a young side. Hopefully we will take a lesson from it.
Q: What was your impression about the wicket?
TI: The wicket looked like we were playing on the seventh day. The ball was spinning a lot. We play a lot of spin at home, so we should have adjusted to it anyway. But we did not play well and also did not play according to our ability.
Q: Plan for second innings?
TI: We have to find out what went wrong and make amends for it. We should try to bat as long as possible.
Q: What do you think the future of this Test match?
T I: I don’t know really, still a long way to go, let’s see. We have to try to bounce back from here.
Q: What was the conversation between you and Imrul Kayes during the opening stand? Do you speak regularly?
TI: We both know about our job. We go to the field knowing what we need to do for the team. Last seven or eight matches we had a good partnership regularly. Imrul is a good batsman. He can learn from his mistakes very quickly.
Q: What do you think about the bowling of Graeme Swann?
TI: I have always said he is a world class spinner. At the moment maybe he is the best off spinner in the world.
Q: Which bowler did you find tough in the two Tests?
TI: I always told you I don’t bother about the bowler. If you just get scared after hearing the name of someone, you must be in trouble. No doubt Swann is a good bowler, but if you think in this way you even won’t be able do what you can do easily.

Courtesy of NewAge