Internet Desk: Tamim Iqbal’s transformation from a dasher at the top to consistent performer is among the most incredible stories in world cricket over the last two years.
The aggressive Bangladesh opener was always known for his talent and ability to give his side good starts, but they were often just sparks of brilliance and nothing bigger. It’s only recently that he has taken steps towards achieving his full potential.
Tamim has been around in the international circuit for a decade, but the turning point in his career came during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Since that event in Australia and New Zealand, Tamim has been a different batsman altogether, and it’s not just a coincidence that Bangladesh’s rise has coincided with Tamim’s.
In eight years and 141 One-Day Internationals before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Tamim had just four centuries and 28 half-centuries with an average of 29.67.
In only two years and 29 matches since, he has already scored five centuries and eight half-centuries at nearly twice the average – 58.12.
The narrow gap between the 50s and 100s tally in the last two years isn’t incidental.
In an exclusive chat with ICC after his latest century, against England in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 opener at The Oval on Thursday, Tamim explained that it was the part of his game that he has worked on the most.
“The last two years have been really good for me individually and as a team as well,” he said.
“I was concentrating on converting starts to a big scores that count for the team. This is what I normally focus on and I was lucky enough that I have done it.”
According to Tamim, the factors that prevented him from making consistent runs earlier were not technical, but mental. He worked hard on that aspect, getting inputs from multiple sources that included Hashim Amla and Sachin Tendulkar.
At some stage, Tamim also hopes to interact with Virat Kohli for a few lessons on converting starts. “Technique wasn’t an issue for me. It was more mental than technical,” explained Tamim. “I normally speak to a lot of people about my game whenever I get opportunities to talk to senior cricketers, coaches and even outside (foreign) cricketers. I love to talk because I know one thing – there’s no end to learning. You need to learn, learn and learn.
“By talking to someone like Hashim Amla, you learn a lot of things. I’ve talked to a couple of Indian cricketers as well. I’ve spoken to Sachin in the past; the way he speaks, if you get one or two things from him, that might help you to become a better cricketer because he has done it so often. I’d love to talk to Virat as well if I get an opportunity because he’s the master of converting starts to big ones.
“I’m not perfect, I have to swim through hell a lot of times. I just want to keep working on my game, speak to the right people on what they do when they go through these kind of things and then try to improve my game.”
The other big change for Tamim in recent times has been his fitness, which has improved for the better.
“Fitness was a big thing. I concentrated on fitness a lot,” he said. “I lost almost 10kg in the last two years – that definitely helped. The mindset as well. I wanted to get big scores and didn’t want to throw the wicket away, but it still happens. I still get out in 50s and 60s but I try to make sure that when the opportunity comes, I make it count.”
Tamim has indeed made it count in the last two years, but the success also brings with a question – how different would things have been had he done this earlier? “I could have been in a different league,” he said. “The worst part is, I had that opportunity and I never converted those 70s and 80s to hundreds. If I had scored around five more centuries, by now I would have had 15-16 hundreds. But I’m just 28 and there are six-seven years to go. If I can continue what I’m doing now and convert those starts to big scores, you never know, I’ll end up in a place where I’ll be really happy.”