Tamim among ICC’s top sixteen

A gleeful Tamim Iqbal said yesterday that he had always wanted to win an ICC Award after he was nominated among sixteen top international cricketers for the Test Player of the Year category in the top cricketing awards.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the different nominations for the annual honour for the best players and performances in the world for the past year. The awards ceremony will be held in Bangalore on October 6.
“I had said before that I had the dream of winning an ICC Award,” said Tamim, reminding of his wish which he made during March’s England series at home. He had just made a scintillating 85 in the first session of the Dhaka Test, narrowly missing a century in the first session.
“Now I am nominated for the first time and even if I don’t win this time, I will try to win it next time,” added the stylish left-hander.
Tamim has had a splendid year, between August 24, 2009 and August 10 this year, scoring 837 runs at an average that is touching 60 (59.78), with three centuries. His favourite opposition has been England during this period, scoring two of his hundreds against them including a breathtaking effort at Lord’s in June.
Apart from the Tigers opener, Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Mohammad Asif, Doug Bollinger, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mahela Jayawardene, Jacques Kallis, Simon Katich, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Watson are also among the nominees for Test Player of the Year.
The Chittagonian became the second Bangladeshi after Shakib Al Hasan to be nominated after the left-handed all-rounder was nominated for the Cricket of the Year and Test Player of the Year in the 2009 ICC Awards. He didn’t win any of those but ended up being selected in the World Test Team of the Year.
Paceman Shafiul Islam was also nominated in the Emerging Player of the Year category for his wonderful start, picking up 24 one-day wickets since making his debut this January.
Amla, Kallis, Dhoni, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Watson and Bollinger are also all nominated for the Cricketer of the Year and the Test and ODI awards in the list of nominees released by the ICC yesterday.
This year’s awards comprise nine individual prizes and three team awards and includes, for the first time, a “people’s choice award” that will be decided by online fan votes.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the awards were an opportunity for the ICC and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable performances of the world’s top players.
Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009) and Dubai (2008).

Courtesy of The Daily Star