A case for Tamim Iqbal

[shujan]

Tamim Iqbal is a prolific batsman. His numbers in first class and domestic cricket is very impressive. He should get a chance to prove himself before WC. He is an opener, but given his ability he can play other position as well. He is a very promising young batsman. Stat source is cricinfo.com.

Full name Tamim Iqbal Khan
Born March 20, 1989, Chittagong
Current age 17 years 280 days
Major teams Bangladesh Under-19s, Chittagong Division
Batting style Left-hand bat

Batting and fielding averages

class	mat	inns	no	runs	hs	ave	bf	sr	100	50	ct	st
First-class	12	20	1	824	118	43.36	1021	80.70	2	5	4	0
List A	7	7	0	123	43	17.57	167	73.65	0	0	3	0

Profile Tamim Iqbal is Bangladesh's most assured batsman, having scored 474 runs in his 12 matches for the U19 team. His most notable innings came against England at the end of last year when he smashed 112 from just 71 balls to help Bangladesh cruise to victory. He has a healthy average of over 43 and a most impressive strike rate scoring 109.72 runs for every 100 balls faced.
Iqbal is one of the younger members of the squad, having still not reached his 17th birthday, however he already looks like he has a bright future in international cricket ahead of him and could be one of the stars of the U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in February.
Chris Oliver January 2006

[Kabir]

Great work Shujan bhai. But there're a few things we need to understand here. First, there isn't enough time before WC for the team to test any new talent. And second, lets take it easy on him brother . He's only 16+, has a lot of time ahead of him. Rushing him into the squad will make another Ashraful out of him. Let him play U-19 until he's 19, and then if need be...he should be considered. Making him work his way up will remind him of the value of playing good cricket. And third, having him in the U-19 for a while will also make the U-19 stronger, motivate other players to play better, and make the challenge stronger for other players to make a case for themselves. So lets wait and give them the chance to prove themselves and their maturity

[Farhad]

Definitely an exciting prospect, seems to be in great form as of late. Even though his List A matches have been rather dissapointing, his most recent one was in the 2005-2006 season. The reason im rooting for him is because he is one of the few quick scorers we have, which shows confidence, something our team definitely lacks against greater teams (That family's sure got talent!). Although, the only place he should fill right now should be in the A team against England A. We cant afford to experiment in the WC, even if he does well in the A series.

[Omio]

I think we need to give him more time to make him more perfect ...

[Mav]

not enough exposure yet in the first class and A level.
Plus his A level average is not that impressive yet. Let him play 100+ matches more in both level and if he can maintain a good average, then BCB should give him chance on national level.

[Kabir]

Yup...his average in both these levels is something I completely ignored. That's also a point to note.

[Arnab]

Originally Posted by Mav
not enough exposure yet in the first class and A level.
Plus his A level average is not that impressive yet. Let him play 100+ matches more in both level and if he can maintain a good average, then BCB should give him chance on national level.

100+ matches? That's crazy.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Arnab
100+ matches? That's crazy.

Not at all crazy. You want someone who is ready, not someone who is hitting 200 strike rate. I have seen many hitters in many corners of dhaka but consistency is what we need for our national side. Someone like Rahul dravid, someone capable of playing many shots like Tendulkar, Gilchrits..

Plus, he is still a kid, if he plays 50 matches a year, on both level, within 2 years he will grow a bit mature too .

[Farhad]

100+ matches??I dont think there are many players in the national team right now who played that many before getting in.....I think the selectors are gonna give him a chance sooner than you think, but I, for now, have no thoughts on the matter. I do however think he should be given a chance if we have more than 3 batsmen that are injured/out of form, a scenario that is highly unlikely in short time.

[kalpurush]

He might be selected for BD - A against England - A in coming February 2007 which would provide him and us as well where he belongs now!?

[shujan]

Did Tamim go to Australia for training in Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence ? If I can remember correctly, Mehrab Hossain Jr went to Australia.

Is anybody going to train in Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence ? Mcinnes started the process which helped our cricketers a lot. I hope the process continue.

Tamim is one of the good thing waiting for Bangladesh cricket. I think Bangladesh should take him as a team member in case of injury replacement.

[Spitfire_x86]

Originally Posted by Kabir
Yup...his average in both these levels is something I completely ignored. That's also a point to note.

Who cares about List A average? If he can maintain his 40-50 average in FC, then his List A average shouldn't matter at all. How many BD cricketers averaged 40-50 in FC cricket? IMO, if he's really that good then his List A average is bound to improve.

[shujan]

Originally Posted by BD4eva
Definitely an exciting prospect, seems to be in great form as of late. Even though his List A matches have been rather dissapointing, his most recent one was in the 2005-2006 season. The reason im rooting for him is because he is one of the few quick scorers we have, which shows confidence, something our team definitely lacks against greater teams (That family's sure got talent!). Although, the only place he should fill right now should be in the A team against England A. We cant afford to experiment in the WC, even if he does well in the A series.

He is in excellent form right now. If Bangladesh can ride his good form 3 more months that would be great. His bat is screaming to include him in the squad. It is hard to ignore. He is scoring lots of run in A team and 20/20 as well.

[BangladeshFan]

if someone is good enough then age should not be a barrier. there are 16 year old test centurians played for india or pakistan and this guy is already 18. selectors can test him out by letting him bat against bowlers like mash, shahadat, rafiq and see how he handles them. if he is that good and quick scorer, would be a valuable asset in the opening slot.

[akabir77]

He is not ready period come back after one/two years.

Fans here act like if we don't use someone with good form then he will lose that form in two three months and we will miss his service. where as if we are patient with him noting like rokon or ash will happen ever. not every one is tandulker you know. his batting against A list teams r not that good. If he was tandu caliber then his List A scores should have been higher. So that tells me that we should wait for him to grow up a little bit. and if he is good in 2 3 years he will be better.

[Tokyobreeze]

I would say - Not so early with Tamim.If he is a quick scorer, he might get his call for 20-20 World Cup in coming year.And, even if he performs better there lets give him time to become consitent performer for A-team.Yeah we would love to have a quick scorer in team, but we are not lacking big strikers.Rather we need a consistent player who plays to the situation, hits when necessary and rotate strike when necessary.To reach that level, I would give Tamim more time.

[cricman]

Originally Posted by BangladeshFan
if someone is good enough then age should not be a barrier. there are 16 year old test centurians played for india or pakistan and this guy is already 18.

There is 16 year old Test Centurian that plays for Bangladesh, you know?

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by Tokyobreeze
Yeah we would love to have a quick scorer in team, but we are not lacking big strikers.Rather we need a consistent player who plays to the situation, hits when necessary and rotate strike when necessary.To reach that level, I would give Tamim more time.

I would disagree, we are lacking quality batsmen with a strike rate of over 100. I agree with everyone who says he needs more time, but 2 years is out of the question. If he continues to score as high as he does (105 against the same team many of our national players struggled against), his age should not be a factor at all. But ofcourse, only if he does.

[shujan]

Tamim is in good form right now. He is getting runs in bunch in every form of cricket he is playing. If he can maintain his average in WC, that is 40/45 quick runs per game. Bangladesh need quick runs against India and Srilanka.I fail to see how inclusion in WC harms Tamim in his career. If he can get 40+ run in WC that is good for his confidence, if not it is still be a positive experince to play in a WC for him.He is not that much younger then Rahim and Reza. He is 18 during WC.

Comparing Tamim with Ash is not a valid comparison. Ash comes into national team from domestic league. He does not have the high performance training like Tamim, Shahreer and Rahim to start with. This is the most fundamental difference. Kids comming from u19 program has much more skill and cricket temperament then players comming from domestic leage as u19 players are coached by Australian coaches to begin with. Dev Whatmore hints as such. Tamim should not have that much difficulty to face the big boys. His performance is telling that he is ready.

Cheers!

[Farhad]

Im almost certain he's going to be chosen for the England A series for the BD A team, he definitely should be.......I still dont think he should be a candidate for the WC, a debut in matches as high-profile as those is simply asking too much. But i do think he should be considered in a match in 2007, that is if he continues his good form....

[shujan]

Originally Posted by BD4eva
Im almost certain he's going to be chosen for the England A series for the BD A team, he definitely should be.......I still dont think he should be a candidate for the WC, a debut in matches as high-profile as those is simply asking too much. But i do think he should be considered in a match in 2007, that is if he continues his good form....

I think so too.. Present Banladesh team is good as well. It is a good thing that we have the luxery to be patient with Tamim.

In WC we need a third pacer. If crease is seamer friendly we need a third pacer. right now we have Mash, Shahadat as pacer and Rafiq, Razzaq , Saqib as slow orthodox. So according to bowling need Tamim does not fit in. Tamim's days are coming soon I hope.

[rafiq]

btw Tamim must be at least 21 going by his older brother Nafees' age. Officially he may be whatever it says....

[pagol-chagol]

Why not just skip Tamim and all his younger brothers, except the youngest one, and just pick the little one as our opener.

[TheWatcher]

I will probably join the Tamim bandwagon if he can do well on Mirpur. So far, he has proven himself only a flat-track bully.

[Rihaad The Man]

Nafis Iqbal was same in the beginning but in a sudden , everything collapsed .

He's the younger brother of him ........