Dashing Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal’s eye-catching celebration upon reaching each milestone is a delight to the eyes of the supporters. Besides the obvious cause of the jubilation, he also tends to send a message to his haters.
And last Friday, Tamim produced yet another special and a fancy celebration to go with it. The left-hander smashed his fifth ODI hundred and his first in two years, reaching his landmark after flicking a Saeed Ajmal delivery towards deep square-leg for four. The celebration that followed was certainly meant for his critics as he removed his helmet, threw his gloves away before making a gesture with his hands.
When asked whether the celebration was pre-planned, Tamim denied, saying it came from his heart.
“Actually, I do not plan for such things but sometimes my reactions come from my heart as I have seen and heard a lot of things whenever I am not able to perform. But, it’s nothing personal as it came naturally when I reached the century yesterday (Friday),” Tamim told the journalists at the corridor of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel yesterday.
“It feels bad when I see people criticising my wife and family members whenever I am unable to perform. As I said earlier, I have no problems if the people and media criticise me when I fail and I am happy to accept that but not anything against my family as they have nothing to do with it,” he said.
It was not the first time Tamim attracted the headlines for his celebrations. In the 2012 Asia Cup, the Chittagong lad blasted four consecutive fifties and after registering his fourth half-century of the tournament, Tamim displayed a similar gesture.
Tamim did not forget to praise his partner in the first ODI, Mushfiqur Rahim, for his scintillating hundred as the pair put on a record-breaking 178-run association for the third wicket.
“Mushfiq played a tremendous knock and at one stage he took over the charge and scored some quick runs which actually helped me at the other end and made my life easy at the middle,” added Tamim.
