Tamim’s work with ‘straightening front foot’ can bring more success

Batting coach Jamie Siddons had been watching ODI captain Tamim Iqbal closely for the last few days during Bangladesh practice. In Bangladesh's optional practice on Thursday, he kept a close eye on Tamim's work at the nets and had discussed a few things he noted. Following today's practice session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium, Jamie was available to talk to the media and talked about some of the things he saw from Tamim.

He had told Tamim that there was no need to try something that felt weird. But to get in line more comfortably, there were some small adjustments that Tamim could try. Today, he talked about footwork. Over the years, Tamim's front foot has often come in at a slight angle facing towards the cover region of the left-hander.

"For me a lot of it is footwork. Tamim wants to straighten up his front foot and he's doing that. It won't happen really quickly, but we are talking about long-term. If he is going to play for the next three or four years, he has to straighten his front foot up a bit. He will have a lot more success. If he doesn't get out lbw, they will find it very hard to get him out. He will make a lot of runs. I can see his best cricket is still ahead of him," Siddons told the media.

Tamim fell to Fazalhaq Farooqi in the last two ODIs in almost similar fashion. The left-arm pacer landed his delivery outside off and then the inswinger rapped Tamim's pads both times after pitching and got him out leg-before. It is something habitual for Tamim that the front foot would come in at that angle, which is why it would take time to get it to straighten up that little bit more. Such changes can also be uncomfortable for any batter. Tamim usually adjusts after initially getting in that front foot up and straightens it when the ball comes in. On Thursday, Siddons appeared to be satisfied with how Tamim's work was progressing. Siddons's work with the likes of Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan is well known when he was in charge of the national side as head coach and with his help this time around, Tamim is trying to get that extra edge to his game.