Birthday special: Tamim Iqbal – A strong pillar of Bangladesh cricket
With Tamim Iqbal celebrating his 32nd birthday, we are taking a look at his illustrious career so far:
Cricket runs in Tamim Iqbal’s blood. His elder brother Nafis Iqbal was a Bangladesh international while his uncle Akram Khan led the country. Perhaps they were the men he grew up idolising and it’s safe to say that Tamim has left behind not only them but most of the cricketers from Bangladesh when it comes to achievement in international cricket.
No man from Bangladesh has scored more ODI and T20I runs than Tamim while only Mushfiqur Rahim has scored more Test runs than him. Talking about some of his other achievements in the game, he is the first Bangladeshi to score 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 & 13,000 international runs. He holds the record of scoring most ODI runs at a single venue. Tamim is the first and to date only Bangladeshi to score centuries in all three formats of the game.
Last year, Tamim made the highest score in first-class cricket by a Bangladeshi batsman when he scored 334 not out, for East Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League. What comes naturally to Tamim are the more difficult elements of batting like scoring freely, hitting shots all around the park and batting with a good technique. Another reason behind his success is his ability to play pace and spin without much trouble. It is one of the reasons behind his success around the world.
The beginning
Tamim arrived in international cricket at a time when Bangladesh started the majority of their games as underdogs and it did not take him long to establish himself as not only their batting mainstay but also one of the best openers in the world. That Tamim is a special player became very much clear when he smashed 112 from just 71 balls as a 15-year old to help Bangladesh thrash England in an U19 game in 2005.
Two years later, he made his ODI debut as a 17-year old and was also named in Bangladesh’s squad for the World Cup in the West Indies. At that time, the cricket fraternity did not know much about Tamim but he had earned the reputation as the hardest hitter of a cricket ball. Well, it did not take the cricket world long to see his potential. His aggressive batting against Zaheer Khan and the 51-run knock during Bangladesh’s famous win over India in the World Cup is a part of his country’s cricketing folklore.
From thereon, Tamim went from strength to strength. In 2009, he scored his maiden Test century during Bangladesh’s historic win over West Indies. It was Bangladesh’s first-ever win in overseas Tests. In 2010, he firmly established himself as one of the best openers in the world by starring in England.
Bangladesh toured England for two more Tests and three ODIs. Although the Tigers lost both the Tests, Tamim was class apart as he scored a century in each of the Tests. His performances in England saw him named one of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’s four Cricketers of the Year in 2011. In October he was also named Wisden’s Test Player of the Year, ahead of Graeme Swann and Virender Sehwag.
The following decade brought more success and recognition for the Bangladesh star that saw him score runs around the world and also earn an IPL contract. By the time the 2010s began, Tamim had successfully managed to change his status from a national star to an international one. The southpaw has been the flagbearer of Bangladesh cricket for the last decade or so and is still showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.
Last year when Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh, he scored 158 runs off 136 balls in the second ODI which is the highest individual score by any Bangladeshi batsman. In the following ODI, he scored 128 runs off 109 balls. Having turned just 32, Tamim still has a lot of cricket left in him and also has the opportunity to further enhance his reputation as Bangladesh’s most decorated opener.
