On this day last year, it was happy tidings for Tamim Iqbal.
He was returning to the national team after wrist surgery during the 4-0 thrashing of New Zealand which he had missed. Having played much of 2010 with pain, the first ODI series against Zimbabwe was the icing on his run-laden cake.
Already, Tamim had scored four hundreds including his maverick 103 at Lord’s which made him a subject of dinner conversations in every Bangladeshi household.
On December 1 last year, Tamim creamed a couple of boundaries before being wrongly adjudged leg-before in a game that the Tigers lost. Tamim however ended the year with a hurricane 95 to help the Tigers to a series win, leaving his home ground with a glint in his eyes.
What a difference a year has made!
Today Tamim will, given all the confirmations received from the team management, play in the first ODI against Pakistan after dropping out of the Twenty20 game on Tuesday due to a sore knee. “As far as I know, his [Tamim Iqbal’s] knee has responded well to the treatment and it looks like he can take his place in the top-order. That’s good news for us again,” said coach Stuart Law yesterday.
On the face of it, an injury is quite usual for an international cricketer. Tamim’s brave move to play through pain last year won him praise from all quarters, so when he wasn’t deemed fit enough for the Pakistan Twenty20, it should have been treated as another misfortune for the left-hander.
Only that it wasn’t received as such.
Nudges and winks are abounding the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium which makes cruel suggestions towards the man, and it is coming from every corner of the cricketing circle.
Is the injury real? Is he taking his place for granted? Does he think he is above the system?
Of course all these (and more) questions on Tamim’s intentions weren’t thought up in one day. Skipping training at the drop of a hat, fielding in largely one area of the field or missing a National Cricket League match are some of the ammunitions drawn against him. A player could get injuries to miss training or is hidden as a fielder, but the same person has played with a bung wrist and was one of the better Bangladesh fielders (remember the “Superman” catch from 2007) till the injury.
To add fuel to the fire, the Bangladesh team physician was seemingly unaware of Tamim’s knee injury and the player himself stated that his pull-out was purely precautionary; yet he had failed a fitness test before the game.
Ultimately, runs will judge a player and here too, it hasn’t been his year. Across all formats, Tamim has averaged 31 this year with five fifties. He struck at more than 42 a game last year, hitting those four hundreds as well as eleven fifties.
An average follow-up season after a great one happens upon every sportsman and Tamim is no different. But the dangers of a player fading away after a purple patch is too common in Bangladesh cricket. The onus is on the team management to rouse this batting force but the buck, ultimately, stops with Tamim.
Surely a batsman who has completely overhauled his Test game in a year can revive his desire; since the Tigers are up against the best bowling attack this year, a good time to start for Tamim would be this month.
-With The Daily Star input
