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CRICKET-TAMIM-WC-TARGET
Elusive World Cup century is not in Tamim’s mind
DHAKA, April 24, 2019 (BSS) – Expectation was high on opener Tamim Iqbal in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup, considering his achievement in England which will host the cricket’s biggest extravaganza this year.
But the swashbuckling opener refused to take anything granted, saying that he doesn’t set any goal particularly for the World Cup, especially for a World Cup century which continues eluding him.
His match-defining 53 ball-51 against India in the 2007 World which led Bangladesh’s memorable victory over the mighty closed door neighbor might give him the identity in the cricketing world. But he shot into the limelight with back to back century in Lord’s and Old Trafford, the two most difficult condition of the cricketing world.
Thereafter he never looked back as he established him one of the influential openers in the world albeit there was some hiccup in his career. And one thing remains consistent that he always plays well in English condition.
“I don’t think for a second that I played well in England. I believe it is not going to help me if I think this way,” he said.
“It will be very difficult, I know that for sure. It will be more difficult if I want to be successful in the World Cup. I must start from the bottom, that’s why I don’t think about what I did before. I want to keep that in history. I may do good or bad I don’t want to stick with the past.
I think about present. And I know one thing if I want to do well in the World Cup I have to do a lot of hard work and have to take the right decisions in the field.”
Despite being the leading scorer of the side, a World Cup century keeps eluding him. Since this World Cup will be played in England this year, there was high expectation that Tamim could break the jinx. But Tamim said he has no such target.
“When I think much about something, I don’t achieve that. I don’t have a century in the World Cup I know that but I can’t change that. If I go to the World Cup with the target of scoring a century or scoring many runs then unnecessary pressure will grip me. To me, the most important thing is to give a good start to the team and play my role.”
BSS/SMP/SMM/1710 hrs