A friend of Tamim Iqbal says that he doesn’t really chart out his milestone celebrations. “It’s not planned, he just does it on his own. He has never really talked about it,” said Minhaz Uddin Khan, a childhood friend who also happens to be a sports reporter.
So when he hammered his fourth successive half-century in the Asia Cup final, Tamim’s gesture is, we trust, a spontaneous reaction. The left-hander pushed the ball down to long on in the 17th over, and jogged the single that took him to his 23rd ODI fifty. He also became the first Bangladeshi batsman to score four consecutive fifties in this format, after being equal with Mohammad Ashraful and Shahriar Nafees who had scored three consecutive half-centuries previously.
Turning towards the dressing-room, Tamim counted one, two, three and four to tell someone what exactly happened out there. On first view, it didn’t seem anything malicious and not intended at anyone in particular. Or was he meaning to get someone’s attention towards the Grand Stand? Whatever it is, that is how he operates and this attitude must never be curtailed.
The turnaround of form and the manner in which he has responded to the pre-Asia Cup controversy should remain an example for the rest of the country’s cricketers. After board president AHM Mustafa Kamal dropped him from the originally selected 15-member squad, he was reinstated. Chief selector Akram Khan was also embroiled in the controversy, resigning and then being asked to return by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
His batting method too has gone through a lot of change. With two new balls in place, Tamim has become cautious but the shot-making hasn’t stopped. He now settles for the odd boundary in the midst of a lot of solidity.
Tamim is now the 43rd batsman to reach this feat with the New Zealand great Glenn Turner being the first man and the young Indian batsman Virat Kohli being the last one to complete four fifties in a row. Even his batting hero Sanath Jayasuriya has done it once.
After his first half-century in the tournament, also against Pakistan, Tamim thanked chief selector, uncle, Akram for sticking with him through the controversy of his selection ahead of the Asia Cup. Yesterday’s celebrations were also a wonderful reminder of his boyish celebrations after reaching his Lord’s hundred in 2010. It was his own way of telling the dressing-room attendant to put his name on the honours board.
Cheeky he may be, but he has returned the faith of the nation.
-With The Daily Star input
