Abahani Limited captain Tamim Iqbal on Wednesday credited team spirit behind the side's Dhaka Premier League title victory. Amid all the controversies in the lone 50-over domestic competition of the country, Abahani with 23 points in 16 matches lifted the DPL crown for the 18th time.
The occasion is the first that Tamim has captained a domestic side to a championship trophy. Meanwhile, Tamim was slammed with a Tk one lakh fine and one-match suspension in the domestic arena by the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday for showing descent towards the on-field umpires during the Super League tie between Abahani and Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club on June 13 at BKSP.
The three-member committee declared the game abandoned and each team were awarded a point each after the game had failed to reach a result.
“It has been a massive turnaround for us,” said Tamim to Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday. “At one point it was quite tough for us to qualify for the Super League. All the players had a big contribution behind this success, especially Shakib [al Hasan], who joined us in the middle of the tournament. He had a great involvement, especially with the bowling unit. He had encouraged the bowlers who were struggling.”
Abahani middle-order batsman Mosaddek Hossain also experienced a brilliant season. In 14 innings, the right-handed batsman scored 622 runs at an average of 77.75, including five half-centuries.
Tamim was effusive in his praise of Mosaddek, the 20-year-old from Mymensingh, and informed that Mossadek was denied of all the attention due to all the negatives that had engulfed Abahani.
“He had an incredible tournament. He has a very bright future I believe. The team attracted a lot of negative discussions and this had overshadowed the performances of our players, including Mosaddek. He has a brain of a 45-year-old and I hope he will meet his ambition of playing in the national team one day.
“Mosaddek had to work hard for scoring those runs, bowlers had to work hard for picking up wickets but people and the media only talked of the negatives. I am disappointed with that,” added Tamim.
As far as his punishment is concerned, Tamim said, “I accept the punishment which the board has decided for me. As I said earlier, it was not right for me to react in such a way with the umpires. I will take lessons from this. I have to be a good human being first, both on and off the field. What I did that day was wrong.”
