When Tamim Iqbal walks out to bat at the centre of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today, he will be a marked man by a lot of people, many of whom are not going to be Pakistanis. The screeching sound of many a sharpening knife will buzz in his ears but it will be his prerogative what he wants to hear; or even drown out the noise, depending on the state of his mind.
Tamim will have to lay his entire focus on Pakistan’s all-round bowling attack rather than what has happened over the last week or so, extending to the last three months when a lot has gone wrong for the Chittagonian. He would like to improve on his recent record against this opposition against whom he has just two fifties. On his day however, the left-hander can be a class act and has quite a few good knocks in his ODI collection. Two out of three of his centuries have come at this ground where he has also hammered four half-centuries and one third of his total runs in 40 innings.
Practically, there are some other positives that Tamim can take from his fortunes in international cricket. An average follow-up season after two good years has happened to a lot of top sportsmen and women, and Tamim is no different. So this is supposed to be the time for recovery, if the ebb and flow of international sports are anything to go by.
The interesting aspect in this situation for keen observers will be to see whether the man in question can harness his talent and acquired skills into good use during this tournament, perceived by some as the crossroads in his career, the first of many.
At the turn of the year, Tamim’s ugly act against Mohammad Ashraful earned him a lot of flak from everyone, including another teammate who felt cheated by his behaviour. There was more trouble for the 22-year-old when he had an alleged fall-out with the Chittagong Kings owners and management with two incidents with former Australian batsman Dean Jones making headlines.
And then came the mother of all controversies, although the whole issue wasn’t his doing. BCB supremo AHM Mustafa Kamal dropped Tamim from the selectors’ 15-man squad and the ensuing tug-of-war between his uncle Akram Khan and the board president shook up cricket in the country. A small section has pointed out that due to their relation, the former national captain reacted so vehemently when Tamim was dropped, though the whole incident has been a blessing in disguise.
Whether this blessing can also be the tonic for him to revive his fortunes will be played out in front of the world. If the runs keep flowing, all the questions will be answered and the knives blunted.
-With The Daily Star input
