'Will really miss the Asia Cup'

Tamim Iqbal returned home from UAE along with two other national cricketers Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim yesterday with some sweet memories as the left-hander had a prolific run with the bat in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).  Enjoying a purple patch, the southpaw was the batsman to watch in the T20 tournament -- a highlight of his string of substantial scores was his 58-ball 80 that guided Peshawar Zalmi to a seven-wicket victory against Islamabad United in Sharjah -- and that is why his absence from the Asia Cup will be a huge miss.

“Definitely I will really miss the Asia Cup. Generally it's always painful to miss national team commitments and it became more painful to me as I am now in good touch and enjoying my batting. It was a hard decision to skip the tournament but I had no other options as it is a very special moment in my life,” said Tamim, who was granted paternity leave as he is expecting his first child.

“Asia Cup is something special and who wants to miss it when it is going to take place at home?  I enjoyed every moment in the PSL and I am happy with the way I batted there, so nothing would have been better than playing the Asia Cup after an impressive tourney in UAE,” he added during his conversation with The Daily Star. Tamim scored 267 runs with three fifties in six matches at the average of 66.75 and a strike-rate of 115.08.

In T20 cricket the biggest problem for the Bangladeshi cricketers is that they appear to lack the craft to pace an innings in the shortest version. But it seemed during the PSL that Tamim had finally realised the nuances of T20 batting. “I think everybody in the team has started to understand T20 cricket and you will see the result in the coming days,” said a confident Tamim.

Tamim spent a fun-filled time during his PSL stint with shortage of interesting anecdotes. He shared one of those funny experiences about his Zalmi captain, the enigma that is Shahid Afridi.  “Shahid Afridi always discussed tactics with me and gave importance to my opinion. One day during a warm-up we had discussed the toss and decided to bat first if he called correctly. From the pavilion I saw that he won the toss and so naturally started to put on my pads as I had to open the innings. Seeing this, my teammates were bemused and asked me why I was putting my batting gear on when Afridi had decided to field first.”

The Bangladesh opener however did not want to make any comment on former Pakistan batsman and current commentator Rameez Raja's presentation ceremony question that stirred controversy in Bangladesh.

Tamim however believes that the Tigers will perform well in the Asia Cup, which will be played in T20 format for the first time.  “I would not say that we are in top position in the T20 format but I must say we are gradually improving in this format. I firmly believe that the team will perform much better than we did against Zimbabwe [the 2-2 draw in mid-January]. I am actually looking forward to a good tournament for the team,” said Tamim.