What role will Tamim return to?
Bangladesh gear up for another T20I series without star batsman Tamim Iqbal but there is the air of him being there regardless, largely due to the fact that the left-hander is battling injury issues ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in two months' time.
The upcoming series against the Kiwis is set to be the fourth T20I series in a row that Tamim will be missing. Although he has played in other formats since, Tamim last participated in a T20I in March, 2020, when he played the first T20I against Zimbabwe at home. Since then, Bangladesh have played T20I series against New Zealand and Zimbabwe away and thumped Australia at home. Interestingly, he played the ODI series on both of those away tours, but opted out due to leg pain before the T20Is.
That same issue kept him out of the home T20I series against Australia and injury now sees him crucially out of the series against the Kiwis, which is the last opportunity for most Bangladesh players to get in some much-needed match time ahead of the T20I World Cup in October.
Tamim will undergo a fitness test before the squad for the World Cup is announced and if he passes, he will presumably head to the tournament without having played a T20I in 17 months. The selectors have said that Tamim's availability hinges on him being fit but questions remain on the impact he might have coming back into a side which is yet to find the answer to its top-order troubles in the shortest format.
Tamim has been able to establish himself as one of Bangladesh's top run-getters, but his T20 career does not do justice to his ability. The strike-rate for a T20 opener is a crucial facet in the shortest format, but Tamim's strike rate of 116.96 suggests his approach is mired in confusion. Despite almost all prominent batsmen in the side having struggled in the T20I format, Tamim who has a reputation for dominating with the bat, has rarely looked fluent.
Often times it appeared that he was trying to transmit his role in the ODIs to formulate a T20 approach. That factor only seemed to have accumulated further problems as the role he plays does not always see Bangladesh reaching the kind of scores that is regular in T20s. Bangladesh's current top-order issue in a nutshell is the problem that the think-tank faced in getting their T20 planning and approach right.
When Tamim has tried to hang around, playing an anchor role, it resulted in eating up deliveries in the Powerplay. Even when he has been able to carry on with his innings, other batters could not provide momentum or the batting lineup would face pressure due to a lack of runs in the Powerplay.
While his role in the Test and ODI format has always been crucial, not having Tamim in his natural flow has cost both him and his side in the shortest format. The pertinent question is what role the team management sees him fulfilling now.
If the Tigers want to take any advantage of the depth in the lower middle-order, the need of the hour is to go aggressive very early on and take advantage of the Powerplay. Whichever candidates are picked from amongst the likes of Tamim, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar or Mohammad Naim to play as the opening pair, they will have to be the most effective at playing the role of the aggressors.
It has not always been clear what the think-tank wants and as they have not backed Soumya, dropping him from an opening slot in the fifth T20I against the Aussies, questions remain whether the team management themselves have clarity regarding the approach at the top of the innings.
In the end, it is not about names, but the roles they will be picked for. Until there is clarity about the role the top order must fulfil as the Tigers head to the World Cup, any attempt at a solution will be ineffective.