Tamim Iqbal successfully drowned out the noise that was surrounding him like a traffic jam on a busy weekday in Dhaka. He figured a way out of the rut through the 20th ODI half-century, though the Tigers lost the game to Pakistan by 21 runs in the Asia Cup opener yesterday.
The left-handed opener was under tremendous pressure after being dropped by BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal from the original 15-man squad last week but the reinstatement has obviously served as a tonic.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim said that the message to Tamim was clear.
“Tamim proved today he is a high quality player,” he said after the match yesterday. “Players like Tamim and Shakib, they always prove their quality. The message to him is that a cricketer like him could have made a comeback of this manner.”
He added that it was Nasir Hossain’s dismissal that was the turning point after he and Shakib Al Hasan added 89 for the sixth wicket when all seemed lost at 135-5 in the 29th over.
“It seemed like they’d score 280-300 the way they started but our bowlers made a good comeback. When we batted, Nasir’s dismissal was the turning point. Shakib and him were the well-set batsmen. We make mistakes in such situations. To beat big teams, you have to focus till the last ball,” he said.
Opening the Bangladesh innings with fellow Chittagonian Nazimuddin after Pakistan made 262 for eight in 50 overs, Tamim took his time and let the right-hander take on the bowlers. Nazimuddin blasted 30 out of the 45 runs they added for the first wicket but once he was dismissed in the eleventh over, Tamim got into second gear alongside a surprisingly aggressive Jahurul Islam.
Watching his Chittagong Kings teammate go on the attack, Tamim slanted a six over midwicket off his scourge Mohammad Hafeez. Some exquisite drives followed, each off Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, both piercing the off-side field; the second one better as the drive beat a sweeper on the off-side fence. There were nicely-timed boundaries through mid-wicket and one through midwicket. Even an outside edge carried to the third-man boundary for Tamim. It was that kind of a day for the man under fire.
A focal point during yesterday’s game was how he would react after such piling up of incidents at his feet. He took a different route to reach the half-century, taking 75 balls and playing second fiddle to Nazimuddin, Jahurul and Shakib Al Hasan. But whatever the method, it worked for Tamim who pointed either towards the dressing room or above to someone else after reaching the milestone.
The dismissal though will remain as an irritant to the batsman. Trying to dab Hafeez, he got the inside-edge which ricocheted off his boot and on to the stumps. Tamim walked off shocked, but by that time the damage to many of critics, had been done.
-With The Daily Star input
