'Tried to bat long and stay calm'

When Tamim Iqbal hit the second ball of the last over hard down to the long-on boundary and ran for a single, the wait for Bangladesh to have its first centurion in the shortest version of the game lingered.

The dashing opener was not within touching distance of that magical three-digit mark when he smashed the first ball of the final over for a towering six over long-on -- it took him to 82. But there was a possibility and it was a matter of three more sixes. However, it was not to be and the left-hander had to be content with an unbeaten 83 -- his second-best knock in T20Is. It may be his second-best knock on paper, but in the context of the game and the manner he constructed his innings it will go down as his best T20 knock till date. He may have smilingly rejected that it had nothing to do with his fatherhood, but it was an innings like a caring father when others around him were trying to play spoilsport.

“No, no. I batted the same way in the PSL [Pakistan Super League] and BPL [Bangladesh Premier League], I wasn't a father then and it had nothing to do with that,” said Tamim with a broad smile on his face at the post-match press briefing.

Actually it was an innings of assurance and maturity that the Netherlands skipper Peter Borren rightly portrayed. “He was some sort of a lone man playing beautifully.”

And one must accept that it was not an easy wicket to bat on.

“It wasn't the easiest wicket. Earlier, it was holding on and it was also spinning. I had to take my time and set myself before playing big shots. I tried to bat long and stay calm, didn't want to push too hard. That was my plan and I got success,” said the left-hander, adding that he was more focused on taking the score past the 150-mark instead of thinking of his century.

It is true that Tamim is better known for playing in one gear -- hitting the ball hard and focusing on fours and sixes instead of looking for quick singles. But when asked what made him play differently, he said: “I've been talking a lot to team management, players, coaches on how to go about T20 cricket. I wasn't doing justice to my talent -- I wasn't scoring too many runs in T20s honestly. So I had to find new ways to score runs in T20s and I've been quite successful at home and in Dubai [PSL]. Just wanted to bat that way and I'm happy with my performance today.”

He said that he wanted to carry on his good form in the World Cup. Tamim may have missed his century, but the way he has been playing for the last six months, a century is not far away for the mercurial batsman.