Bangladesh and Abahani opener Tamim Iqbal unleashes a front-foot pull on way to a century in the DPL warm-up game against Prime Bank at Fatullah on April 19, 2016, Tuesday. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Tamim Iqbal returned to cricket after a three-week hiatus with a century at Fatullah yesterday. The opener smacked 139 runs in 90 balls during a practice match played between Abahani Limited and Dhaka Premier League title-holders Prime Bank Cricket Club.

He smacked 18 fours and five sixes for Abahani and looked to be in sublime form. Speaking to reporters after the game, a content Tamim said that he looks forward to carrying his form throughout the DPL, the country's most prominent one-day cricket tournament which is set to begin on April 22.

“I think it will be great if I can bat like this throughout the tournament. It felt really good the way I batted today (Monday).  I am actually playing after 20-odd days. To play an innings like this immediately after getting back definitely boosts your confidence.

“And hopefully I can continue because this will be good for the team. And as we all know, Abahani is a traditional heavyweight that has only one aim: to be champions,” said Tamim.

On paper, Abahani is considered to be the strongest team of the tournament. Of 13 players they signed up during the players' draft, eight of them have played international cricket, while the remaining five have been in good form.

They will have the services of the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Jubair Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Shuvagata Hom as well. However, no matter how strong the team may be, Tamim was not too keen on predicting the way the tournament would progress.

“On paper our team is definitely very strong. But if you see, we had a good team in the Bangladesh Premier League as well. The Chittagong Vikings were really strong but at the end we finished sixth. There is no point of making assumptions based on calculations on paper. We have to play well on the field and only then will the results come our way. Everything depends on the way we play,” said Tamim.

“Playing for teams like Abahani, Mohammedan is a different feeling altogether. We know that they are big teams. It feels different in the dressing room, the entire environment is quite different,” he added.

Aside from Tamim's brilliance yesterday's game also saw the return of Rubel Hossain. He played his first match ever since his recovery from injury. The pacer bowled eight overs and gave away 52 runs; not the best of starts, but he was happy to be back on the field.