Tamim thanks teammates for believing in him

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal thanked his lucky stars and also his teammates and the management for believing in him following his record-breaking 158 off 136 deliveries against Zimbabwe today -- the highest ODI score for Bangladesh. The 30-year-old had to previously field questions regarding whether he was retreating into a shell and a poor run of form since the 2019 World Cup laid credence to that argument. Tamim maintained as always that the process was important to him.

One thing that has certainly changed over the years is how he plays the anchor role. He talked about one of the top five batters being there till the 40th over.  His acceleration at the end, and if he can continue that trend could go a long way to verifying that process he talked about.

"I have been batting well. I would like to thank the team management, and my team-mates for believing in me. I have been hitting the ball really well, and it was all about the process. I got lucky early and that kept me going. I just kept looking to hit straight and went on. Our team goal is that someone from the top five has to bat through the first 40 overs. It was my turn today, and Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim] batted really well too, and now it's up to our bowlers. They have some quality bowlers too. So we have bowl well."

He reached his ton in 106 deliveries and then added 57 runs in the last 30 deliveries he faced today. That acceleration can come handy and so does the anchor role he plays in the 50-over format.

It's been a long time that Tamim's bat had smiled the way it did today. The last time he hit a ton was back in 2018 against West Indies at St Kitts and 23 innings had passed following that knock, his most barren patch in recent years. While he has hit five fifties following that innings in the Caribbean, there was a growing belief that he was getting bogged down.

The 30-year-old experienced cricketer at one point had all the Bangladesh records under his belt and had taken himself to a new height as a world-class opening batsman in the four years following a dismal 2015 World Cup.

But in recent times, Tamim seems to be overthinking his batting approach, and the effect of that has been visible since the start of the ICC World Cup in England last summer.

A barren patch is not at all unknown to Tamim however. His longest barren patch stood at 44 knocks, when he did not score another ton after February 2010 (125 against England), till March 2013 (112 against Sri Lanka).

But following that patch, Tamim had been scoring run consistently and there is hope that the process he talks about will see him continue on a good streak once more.  

Gaps in innings between tons

26 innings before his first ton

32 innings before his second

13 innings before his third

44 innings before his fourth

21 innings before fifth

0 innings for sixth

12 innings for seventh ton

6 innings between eighth and ninth ton

5 innings between nine and ten

9 innings before his tenth ton (95, 70, 84*, 84, 76 in between)

1 innings before his 11th ton

23 innings for 12th ton