Time hasn’t come to be concerned for Tamim’s form, says Mashrafe

Tamim Iqbal continued his poor run of form after yet another failure with willow, which was a catalyst in Dhaka Platoon's nine-wicket defeat to Rajshahi Royals in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) today here.

Tamim scored just 5 runs after opening the innings as favourite Dhaka Platoon was restricted to a below-par 134-9 in a batting paradise.

It was not the first time he failed with the bat, in fact, he has been in a patchy form since the World Cup. After a disappointing World Cup mission in which he scored just 235 runs in eight games with just one half-century, his form took a huge nosedive in three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. He scored just two runs in three matches, forcing the critics question about his place in the team.

Tamim subsequently took rest from the one-off Test series against Afghanistan and tri-nation T20 series that also involved Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. He then returned to cricket during National Cricket League (NCL) but couldn't' do anything worthy before opting out India series due to be with this ailing wife who was expecting the second child.

He came back after enough rest but the patchy form still lingers with him, raising a question of his ability again.

But his Dhaka Platoon captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza seemed to be annoyed with such sort of question time and again, saying that Tamim has nothing to prove about his ability.

"I don't think there is anything to think about Tamim Iqbal right at this moment," Mashrafe said here today.

"In the last year too, Tamim was not up to mark in the initial matches but he played a match-winning knock in the final of that BPL. Tamim time and again proved how good batsman he is." Mashrafe said that Tamim's bad performance was not the reason for his side's downfall in the first match of BBPL.

"What was the reason for the defeat was that we couldn't play as a unit. The wicket was good, normally you can't expect such good wicket in Mirpur. We were in position to pile up 160. However we suffered three run out dismissals later which stifled us. That's why I think the time hasn't yet come to think about Tamim's form or team's ability."