In his short international career, Tamim Iqbal has already passed one test. In the span of five seasons, he has shed the ‘one-hit wonder’ tag to build himself as a Test opener and last year, he blossomed against two top bowling attacks.
He was primed for the World Cup but he ended the campaign with just a single half-century and two starts. Admittedly disheartened, it has taken him the best part of the last three months to come to terms with the disappointing performance.
“I dreamed of firing big time in the World Cup but I came up short. I made runs but I wanted to make an impact. I think that maybe my goal was too big,” Tamim said from the fitness camp in BKSP on Sunday where the Tigers’ will spend a few days.
After the three-match series against Australia, Tamim took a break from cricket, even in his mind. “I didn’t want to talk or think of cricket. I was trying to get out of the frustration and I think that has been a major lesson out of this season; how to deal with failure.”
“It’s good that I have to deal with such things so early in my career,” said Tamim.
His hundreds at Lord’s and Manchester last year gave a glimpse of his cavalier approach, a point not missed by Twenty20 teams across the world.
But luck hasn’t been on Tamim’s side.
After being passed over by the IPL teams, the call from the county side for the Friends Life T20 tournament has not yet been finalised. Meanwhile, he was among the foreign players considered for the SLPL (Sri Lanka Premier League) but the schedule will clash with the Zimbabwe series.
Reports in an Australian newspaper also suggest that an offer from Australia’s Big Bash League team is also in the offing as his old under-19s coach Allister de Winter has been made the head coach of the Hobart Hurricanes.
This one too could slip out of Tamim’s hands as Pakistan are set to arrive during that competition down under.
Luckily, Tamim deals with life’s big and little disappointments with a touch of humour.
“All I can do is be positive. Things are not going my way but I hope that one day, all of this will fall into my lap!”
At the BKSP camp, Tamim and the other cricketers took part in boxing as part of their fitness work and he feels the work put in now will help them. “We haven’t done such a camp in the last two years. We needed this because it will help us to bat long hours and in our fielding,” he said.
“This camp would also help us in the coming years,” he added.
-With The Daily Star input
