Return of the Tamim

When the sarcastic comparison with Maggi Noodles went viral, we all had a laugh at Tamim Iqbal's expense. Not to mention his Dano milk endorsement parodied to his performance, or the lack of it. Tamim's critics continued with their below-the-belt potshots, but the southpaw was biding his time, waiting for the perfect comeback.

What a comeback it was! Tamim's bat did all the talking as he scored consecutive hundreds in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan and silenced his critics for good. More importantly, Tamim's terrific performance gave Bangladesh the first ever series victory over Pakistan and an unassailable 2-0 lead with one match to spare.

In the first match of the series on Friday, Tamim scored his first hundred against Pakistan and laid the foundation for Bangladesh's highest total of 329 runs in one-day internationals. He was back to his imperious best as he literally toyed with the Pakistani bowlers throughout his innings of 132 runs from 135 balls. Tamim pulled, flicked and drove with ease as he smashed fifteen 4s and three huge 6s in his brilliant knock.

If his critiques thought the first hundred was a fluke, his answer couldn't have been any better. Chasing a smallish total of 240 runs in the 2nd match of the series, Tamim started batting like a man possessed. He took on the Pakistani bowlers from ball one and sent them on a leather hunt at Mirpur. Tamim was unbeaten on 116 runs from 116 balls, and ensured Bangladesh romped to victory with 11.5 overs to spare. He sent the ball across the boundary seventeen times, and treated the home crowd to a massive six off Junaid Khan late in his innings.

The Maggi Noodles gags about Tamim was the result of the frustration coming from passionate Bangladesh supporters expecting him to do something extraordinary in every match he played. Every batsman goes through a lean patch, but not for Tamim. His performance in the last 20 matches doesn't justify the criticism he had to endure. Yes, he had failures with six single-digit scores, but he averages nearly 37 in that period. Needless to say, when Tamim gets going, he gets big runs, and entertains cricket fans all around the world.