Tamim Iqbal’s struggles and Bangladesh’s fortunes have been plummeting since last year. Abhijit Banare looks at the Bangladesh opener’s form and analyses the reasons for the dip.
After Tamim Iqbal‘s rash swipe on the second ball of the forgettable One-Day International (ODI) against India for Bangladesh, a reaction on Twitter read , “Tamim stop playing such shots, you are no Virender Sehwag.” Though it was out of sarcasm, it couldn’t have been put better. Tamim’s wicket for Bangladesh is equivalent to that of Sehwag for India. Nine out of 10 times when they play shots that can be termed reckless; the strikes fetch them runs. And their aggressive styles have been the key to giving their respective teams solid starts.
Yet, Tamim seems to have missed out on one of the common aspects followed by a batsman when out of form — stick to basics. Easier said than done! It can’t be more difficult for a batsman who is used to playing cracking shots from the first ball. And it looks more than embarrassing when they get out playing their natural way when out of form. Perhaps, that explains Tamim’s poor shot after getting a four off the first delivery in their chase of 106. That was a match where he could have laid low and allowed himself to gain confidence by middling the ball for as long as possible.
Tamim’s shot can be attributed to poor temperament. And to be fair, the dismissals of Tamim since October 2013 [the time since when his form descended] have been gifted by the batsman rather than a great delivery foxing him. Below is a list of scores from Tamim from October 2013:
Opponent
Score
Tests
Sri Lanka
6(28b)
11(18b)
Sri Lanka
0(4b)
31(102b)
ODIs
India
0(11)
India
4(2)
T20Is
Sri Lanka
30(25)
Sri Lanka
2(4)
Afghanistan
21(27)
Nepal
30(22)
Hong Kong
0(2)
West Indies
5(10)
India
6(10)
Pakistan
16(15)
Australia
5(11)
His highest score is a laboured 31 against the Sri Lanka. The other two 30s in 15 innings have come against Sri Lanka and Nepal in the T20I format. And in this course, he has registered a duck in each format.
The worst part of all is that the bowlers have managed to tie him down in most of the above mentioned innings. By not giving any room to free his arms outside off-stump, Tamim has looked unsettled and gifted is wicket away. Patience plays a key role during such situations. But Tamim just hasn’t looked in the zone to stay at the crease for long periods and fight his way back. And being an opener, it just adds the pressure on the rest of the batting when you get out early, more specifically on the other two experienced batsman — Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan.
With over 100 ODIs to his name, Bangladesh would be jittery of losing an exceptional and quality player, similar to the dilemma for selectors before dropping Sehwag.
(Abhijit Banareis a reporter at CricketCountry. He is an avid quizzer and loves to analyse and dig out interesting facts which allows him to learn something new every day. Apart from cricket he also likes to keep a sharp eye on Indian politics, and can be followed on Twitter and blog)
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