Tamim Iqbal's century in Bangladesh vs Oman ICC World T20 2016 the culmination of run of good form

Bangladesh will hope Tamim Iqbal's form can continue into the main round of ICC World T20 2016, and beyond.

Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a T20I century © AFP

Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a Twenty20 International (T20I) century when he made an excellent 103 not out off 63 balls in Match 12 of ICC World T20 2016 against Oman. Tamim’s innings was paced wonderfully, with a few dot balls early on made up for with some massive hits later. Tamim’s century does not come as a huge surprise given his form across formats in the last two years. In fact, Tamim has been one of the major reasons for the emergence of Bangladesh cricket. Full Cricket Scorecard: Bangladesh vs Oman, ICC World T20 2016, Group A match at Dharmasala

Tamim has been a revelation ever since the start of the 2015 season. Along with the likes of Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain, and Mahmudullah, Tamim has led Bangladesh’s batting charts from the front. That Tamim had immense talent was never in doubt; he had scored back to back Test centuries in England — something few other batsmen can boast of. READ: Tamim Iqbal century propels Bangladesh to 180 for 2 against Oman in ICC World T20 2016 Group A Match 12 at Dharamsala

Since 2015 Tamim has been in the top 20 run-scorers across formats the world over. In 36 matches across formats since 2015, Tamim has scored 1,507 runs at an average of 44.32. His average across formats is higher than Faf du Plessis, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Chandimal, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Hafeez, Angelo Mathews, Ben Stokes, and Brendon McCullum — each of whom are above Tamim in terms of runs scored across formats since 2015. READ: Tamim Iqbal becomes first Bangladesh cricketer to score 1,000 T20I runs

Below is a table showing the leading run-scorers across formats since January 1, 2015:

Name	Team	M	R	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
Kane Williamson	New Zealand	53	3339	242*	60.7	75.61	8	21
Steven Smith	Australia	48	3077	215	61.54	73.43	10	14
Joe Root	England	47	2910	182*	52.9	74.59	9	18
Martin Guptill	New Zealand	57	2840	237*	47.33	89.22	6	18
David Warner	Australia	42	2627	253	52.54	94.63	8	12
AB de Villiers	South Africa	44	2278	162*	52.97	91.48	7	11
Hashim Amla	South Africa	46	2248	201	47.82	66.72	7	8
Rohit Sharma	India	42	2047	171*	44.5	88.69	6	11
Virat Kohli	India	44	2040	147	48.57	77.53	6	9
Mohammad Hafeez	Pakistan	44	1839	224	38.31	76.4	4	9
Faf du Plessis	South Africa	46	1811	133*	42.11	71.86	3	13
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	42	1808	290	51.65	79.78	5	6
Shikhar Dhawan	India	43	1789	173	40.65	78.7	5	8
Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	43	1566	122	38.19	66.27	3	7
Dinesh Chandimal	Sri Lanka	40	1549	162*	39.71	66.88	2	10
Ajinkya Rahane	India	40	1544	127	39.58	69.14	3	9
Ben Stokes	England	36	1544	258	33.56	86.35	2	9
Alastair Cook	England	17	1541	263	49.7	43.91	3	9
Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	39	1523	145	33.1	120.77	2	9
Tamim Iqbal	Bangladesh	36	1507	206	44.32	82.62	4	7

Tamim rounds off the top 20, but his superior average is worth noting. A break-up of Tamim’s numbers shows just how good he has been. In 5 Tests he has scored 375 runs at 53.57 with 1 century — a match-saving 206 against Pakistan — and 1 fifty. In ODIs, Tamim has scored 742 runs in 18 matches at 46.37 with 2 centuries and 5 fifties. In T20Is he has scored 390 runs in 13 matches at 35.45 with 1 ton and 1 half-century.

Here is a table showing Tamim’s performances across formats since January 1, 2015:

Format	M	R	HS	Ave	SR	100	50	0
ODIs	18	742	132	46.37	81.62	2	5	2
Tests	5	375	206	53.57	59.61	1	1	0
T20Is	13	390	103*	35.45	136.36	1	1	0

Tamim’s recent form has been excellent. After performing admirably for Peshawar Zalmi in Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2016, he scored 83 not out and 47 in the first two matches of ICC World T20 2016 against Netherlands and Ireland respectively before scoring 103 not out against Oman in what was essentially a knock-out match to reach the Super-10s. Bangladesh will hope Tamim’s form can continue into the main round of ICC World T20 2016, and beyond.

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is an animal lover and comic, film and TV geek. A fast bowler at heart, he enjoys watching a good, low-scoring game of cricket. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)