Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal drives the ball during the second day of their first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle on Wednesday. — AFP photo
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said the only explanation he could make about the bizarre run out of opening batsman Tamim Iqbal was the ‘brain-fade’ of the left-handed batsman at Galle on Wednesday.
Tamim walked out of his crease after he tried to flick a Lakshan Sandakan delivery though the ball was in the gloves of wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who dislodged the bails after their caught behind appeal was turned down.
Tamim was also run-out in the first innings of Tigers’ last Test, the one-off match against India to embarrass himself with two consecutive run-outs, a rare thing in Tests, especially for an opener.
While he had Mominul Haque to blame partly for his run-out in Hyderabad, Tamim could only curse his luck for the latest incident that saw him being run out even without attempting for a run.
Naturally coach Hathurusinghe was very disappointed with the dismissal of the opener.
‘Only thing I can say is brain fade,’ Hathurusinghe said after the end of day’s play.
‘He hasn’t spoken to me yet. But what I think, you know, the buzzword now is brain fade, isn’t it, in cricket? That’s what happened there.’
Tamim’s dismissal for 57 runs spoiled Bangladesh’s positive start, ending his 118-run opening stand with Soumya Sarkar and the wicket of one-down Mominul fell almost immediately to give Sri Lanka the edge in an otherwise evenly contested day.
‘Very disappointed because we were cruising at that time,’ said the coach.
‘They were batting very well. There were no demons at that time.
‘Actually he batted really well. I was very pleased the way he approached the innings. He probably thought that the ball has gone past the keeper,’ he added.
His dismissal also allowed Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Dickwella to sleep well on Wednesday after he had dropped the opener on 28 earlier in the innings.
Dickwella said the ball brushed Tamim’s pad and he believed the batsman was confused about where the ball went.
‘It brushed his pad and I caught it. He must have thought the ball went past me and he went out of the crease. I removed the bails,’ he said.
‘We were appealing for the catch and LBW both,’ said Dicwella.
Tamim could take consolation from the fact that his innings made his average against Sri Lanka little better with only one half-century in previous 10 innings, an innings of 59 run at Colombo in 2013.
His 57 off 112 12 balls now took his tally against Sri Lanka to 255 in 11 innings at 23.18, which was still his second lowest average against any opponent.
Tamim’s lowest average is 16.60 against South Africa as he made lowest 166 from six matches against the African nation.
The left-handed opener has the average of over 40 against all other Test teams except Australia, whom he is yet to play.
Tamim made an unbeaten century in the practice match of current tour, signaling his intent for making some runs against Sri Lanka which was long overdue.
Source: New Age
