I am ready to bat at any strike-rate- Tamim
Photo - BCB
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal said that he does not mind playing the sheet anchor role to fulfill the demand of the team.
Tamim had some trying times against West Indies and after surviving the initial storm came out as victorious. Tamim, who had started his career in a blazing manner, had changed his batting to serve the purpose of the team and despite being such an aggressive batsman he had restrained from trying anything adventurous in the recent past just to avoid risking his wicket.
From the beginning of 2017 till date Tamim is the leading scorer for Bangladesh in the ODI’s. He started playing the sheet anchor role after the responsibility was given to him by the team management and scored 1420 runs at an awesome average of 64.54 at the strike rate of 77.80 from the 28 innings that he played.
For a stroke maker like Tamim it was surely a great move and he admitted that he had to curb his aggressive instinct for the purpose of the team.
“Won’t it be satisfying to me if I bat with 110-120 strike rate,’’ questioned Tamim.
“At a time I only played on the off side, I didn’t have any shot on the leg. Even though I played attacking then, now I have many shots in my hand. Can’t I play more shots, if I want? Don’t I want to be adventurous too? But the thing is we play for the team. There is nothing bigger than the team,’’ he said.
“Say I played with 150 strike rate but the team lost. What the point then? But I played with 60 strike rate but the team won, I am happy. Team wants me to play up to 30-35 or 40 overs. When the wickets fall on the other end then they want me to stay on the crease even more. I have to keep those things in mind,’’ he concluded.
“If the team wants me to play with 150 strike rate, I will definitely try to do that. If they want me to play at 50 strike rate I will do that too. If you see my records of the past few years, the way I am playing has helped the team. This is more effective. And I am trying to continue this too,’’ he said.
Though Tamim scored the brilliant fifty but certainly it did not turned out to be as he wanted it as once again he got out in the eighties when the left-handed batsman whipped a leg-stump half-volley straight to Holder in front of square leg and the West Indian skipper holds on to a great catch.
Tamim got out in the eighties on 14 occasions so far and according to Tamim may be he will regret about it at the later stage of his life when he will go through his career records.
“If you are out for 80 certainly you will regret. Most of the time I am to be blamed for my dismissal at that point as I tried to do something that was not necessary,’’ said Tamim.
“But I was unlucky on some occasion like the last innings. I was playing according to the merit of the ball. I was unlucky that the ball went straight into the hand of the fielder and he took a good catch. In such cases you don’t have much regret. I am regretting not because I could not score the century but because I failed to finish off the game,’’ he said.
“Probably I will regret at the end of my career when I will look back because the amount of times I went out in the eighties if I could turn half of them into centuries it would have been nice. But past is past and no use grumbling about it. I only hope that if I get opportunities in future I just don’t spill it away. If I went out for a good ball or playing a good shot it is another thing but I should not throw away my wicket,’’ he added.
