Opener Tamim Iqbal said that he has enjoyed his batting during the second one-day international against Pakistan after he shrugged off his poor form earlier in the series. Under fire from many corners for his form and fitness Tamim responded with 132 runs in the series opener and followed the feat with a run-a-ball 116 to lead Bangladesh to a crushing seven-wicket win on Sunday.
‘When I went to bat first, only one thing that was in my head was that I want to enjoy as much as I can,’ Tamim told reporters after his innings.
‘I couldn’t score as much runs as expected before the first one-day.
‘I was telling myself that I want to enjoy as much as I can, I will play my shots. When I reached 80 maybe at that point of time I thought of a century,’ said Tamim.
Tamim made a unique gesture to celebrate his century in the first match, apparently asking his critics to get silent. However, unlike the first match, his celebration was much more enthusiastic this time as he rolled the bat into the air before acknowledging the crowd.
‘I always said that I never plan celebrations, when it happens it happens,’ said Tamim. ‘When I get happy I do a lot of things suddenly. Whenever I planned, I never could reach the century.
‘I will request everyone not to take it [celebration after the first match] negatively, because you have to understand what I went through,
‘I would have accepted everything toward me but not to my family. In the last celebration frustration came out but I never wanted to hurt anyone.
‘Just think that I am a big fan of [Cristiano] Ronaldo and I tried to celebrate like him,’ he said.
Tamim said he is happy that he could deliver as runs were due to him.
‘Personally this was a very important series, it was due [runs], thanks God all came well,’ said Tamim.
‘It was important because honestly speaking I was under pressure.
‘My team-mates always made me believe in me, so I think behind my success they have a big support.
‘Mashrafee [bin Murtaza] bhai and Mushfiq supported me a lot. Be it in the media or personally, I always felt important,’ said Tamim.
-With New Age input
