Mujeeb fear too much to handle for Tamim!
Collected
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh’s opener Tamim Iqbal failed to remove the mental block as he opted not to face the opening delivery against Afghanistan.
Tamim always opens the innings for Bangladesh and like to face the first ball of the innings but against Afghanistan he was not seen doing the same raising question whether he is still carrying the mental phobia against Mujeeb who apparently looked to playing on his mind in the recent past.
During the three-match T20 series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in 2018, Tamim was also on the non-striking end matches after young off-spin prodigy Mujeeb removed him with his first delivery in the three-match series opener.
In the first match, the Right-arm off-break bowler preyed Tamim with LBW on the first delivery of the innings as the opener as he opted to face the first ball like he always does and surprisingly Tamim opted not to face the opening delivery in the following three matches.
A Liton Kumar Das opted to face the opening deliveries in the remaining two matches while the Mujeeb removed Tamim in his second over during the last match of the tournament eventually it turned out to be a talking point in the country’s cricketing fraternity whether there the experienced left-handed opener having any mental issue with Mujeeb.
The issue looked to have been done and dusted until Monday but somehow again resurfaced after Tamim opted not to take the strike against Afghanistan and the way he played Mujeeb certainly validated that he had some physiological issues with the spinners as he looked to be over cautious.
Though Mujeeb did not remove him in the end as Mohammad Nabi bowled him for 53-ball 36 it can well be said that Tamim was feeling the heat in the middle and his inability to hit any four against Mujeeb can well be a major reason behind it.
Tamim, who hit four boundaries, hit the last one against Nabi and the Afghan made an excellent comeback as bowled him with his next delivery by denying him the pace as Nabi bowled it with a slight round-arm action from wide of the crease, Tamim's adrenaline rush doesn't allow him to settle for the lack of pace and he loses his off-stump with an ill-timed punch-drive.
