Bangladesh’s consistent run-scorer Tamim Iqbal turns 29

Truth be told, it’s hard to imagine Bangladesh without Tamim Iqbal. Today, he is their stablemate who seems driven to conquer any steeplechase. The gritty batsman has been around for nearly over a decade and in a period of playing some absorbing cricket, he’s lent his useful presence to uplift the status of a team often rather awkwardly labeled as the “big upset causers.” 
When Bangladesh is so much more than that. Teams today, despite the burgeoning popularity of T20s, are in great need of calm players; someone around whom an entire team can bat.

A calm batsman

He is that bloke who can keep the wits about himself amid a climate of constant pressure, euphoria and uncertainty. Tamim Iqbal with his great match-awareness and silent sense of stoicism is exactly that. It won’t be wrong to quote that he’s the bedrock for Bangladesh’s hope to score runs in immensity.
Yet, being a player who happily puts his team ahead of his personal milestones. Philosophically, in cricketing parlance, it could be shared, Tamim’s on the path of some silent figures of inspiration, quite like a Dravid and Kallis. But also one, who perhaps needs to work doubly hard to make a respectable ODI average of 35, reach in the upper echelons of 40 where he seemingly belongs.
Ever since he debuted in 2007, scoring a quintessential Test fifty against a rigorous bowling-heavy New Zealand, there was that calming presence about the left-hander. There are players who burst with spurts of big hitting.

Patience and Panache

Then there are those who prefer to claw back at bowlers, making them play the patient game. Tamim Iqbal does none of this. He simply goes about doing his job in an uncomplicated manner; akin to a torchbearer, whose task is to hold a torch and get in for a long-haul run.
Through great match preparation and focus, Tamim’s uncomplicated approach to batting has articulated in tons of runs- nearly 10,000 of them at the highest level. It has manifested itself through useful match-winning performances, particularly against staunch sub-continental opponents: Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
In Tamim Iqbal, it ought to be said, Bangladesh is blessed to have a fluent run-scorer who’s a throwback to the classic approach of playing the gentleman’s sport; focus hard, accumulate runs with temerity, fight out difficult sessions and offer no lip service to opponents, preferring to answer with the bat. His shots square of the wicket remind fans of the same eye-pleasing beauty that Saeed Anwar brought to the game. It’s emotive and contagious.

Consistent, but Bangladesh needs more from Tamim

Some of his finest ODI performances against handy opponents:

These might not be mighty numbers that would move you in awe but highlight his importance for a run-hungry Bangladesh.
Having just turned 29, it’s safe to assume, Tamim will walk the long mile. He insists that there’s this burning desire to score runs and improve his average. Even as Bangladesh have been featuring constantly among T20 series, the love for scoring in traditional formats hasn’t escaped his focus.

You understand this isn’t lame overestimation rather a substantial statement that Tamim Iqbal’s recent performances demonstrate. In ODI cricket, he’s been on quite a scoring spree, pounding runs at an average of 46, 45, 64 and 63 respectively from 2015-18. Similarly, in Tests, 8 of his 25 fifties and 4 of his 8 hundreds have come in last 4 years.

Bulwark of Bangladesh’s batting

Cricket has always admired batsmen who exhibit some class and bring about a sense of finesse through their game. Neither wielding a high backlift nor breaking into temperamental bouts, Tamim Iqbal prefers to compete with a quiet surety. It’s the sort of feeling that greets you when you see some of his present contemporaries- Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

Grace personified

It’s both refreshing especially in the current firebrand template of the sport where emotions run high and indicative of the character of a bloke who prefers to move about silently. Not to mention, determinedly.
Fans are glad to find in Tamim Iqbal a batsman who hates to give away his wicket; someone, who discounting loudness or shenanigans will keep chipping away at the opposition, preferring to up the ante of scoring instead of resorting to cricket’s version of needless babble. The kinds we find Rabada, Warner involved in.
Together with their wicketkeeping batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hassan,  Tamim Iqbal structures a modern-day troika for Bangladesh Cricket that lives by a simple philosophy: compete hard and give it his all. It’s heartening though that the left-hander seems most driven to uphold the dignity of their game. Even his wile detractors wouldn’t care to ignore that during the recent spat with Sri Lanka, it was Tamim who immediately rushed to the scene, doing damage control by spreading his arms around Perera.
Tamim Iqbal is a great sight for world cricket. He gives the sport a reason to celebrate it as the gentleman’s game.