Tamim gets passing marks, Mahmudullah still has point to prove

Bangladesh and New Zealand are currently in the midst of a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series in Dhaka where the visitors are leading 1-0 with one game to go.

In a sense, the win in the second ODI on Saturday was a significant one for New Zealand as it was their first victory over Bangladesh in 15 years.

But even though these matches will be regarded as international games in the record books, in reality, these matches are over-glorified practice matches for both teams ahead of the ICC World Cup in India starting next month.

New Zealand have rested 10 players of their World Cup squad. The Tigers have also rested a number of players who have already sealed their spots in the Bangladesh World Cup squad, which is yet to be announced.

For Bangladesh, this series is the last chance to observe a few players before finalising the World Cup squad.

In the list of the players that are under the microscope in the series, two names, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, standout albeit for different reasons.

Tamim is already a shoo-in for the World Cup squad as the recently concluded Asia Cup showed that the Tigers desperately need someone who can hold together their fragile top order.

The main concern about Tamim is his ailing back and what sort of a form he will be in after the two-month hiatus from international cricket where he was rehabilitating from his back injury.

Mahmudullah, however, is still fighting for a place in the World Cup squad.

The veteran batter was discarded from the side in March earlier this year in favour of the likes of Shamim Hossain and Afif Hossain.

But after the duo’s failure in the Asia Cup, Mahmudullah has returned for the New Zealand series and is a frontrunner for a spot in the World Cup squad.

Tamim and Mahmudullah didn’t get to bat in the first ODI, which got washed out.

In the second ODI, the veterans got that opportunity and although Bangladesh lost the game, both of them scored runs with the bat.

Mahmudullah top scored with 49 off 76 balls at No.6 while Tamim made 44 off 58 balls opening the innings.

Chasing 255, Tamim helped Bangladesh get off to a decent start.

He opened the innings with Litton Das, Bangladesh’s preferred opening pair in ODIs. After Litton departed for a sluggish six off 16 balls, he got together with Tanzid Hasan Tamim.

The two Tamims took the team to 54-1 at the end of the 1st powerplay, with the senior Tamim leading the charge.

Tamim scored 35 off 36 balls in the first 10 overs against quality pacers like Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson.

He was particularly aggressive against Jamieson, hitting him for four boundaries, three of which came in the same over.

But after the junior Tamim got dismissed and a couple of more wickets fell in quick succession, Tamim went into his shell and tried to consolidate with Mahmudullah, before becoming Ish Sodhi’s third victim in the match.

Tamim may not have capitalised on a good start, but he gave the team a solid start, ensured the team didn’t lose too many wickets in the 1st powerplay while maintaining a healthy scoring rate.

After the match, Tamim said that he is still not completely fit. But he didn’t look in any discomfort when he was flailing and flicking the ball to the ropes.

Meanwhile, Mahmudullah also began his innings positively, much like Tamim.

The 37-year-old hit Lockie Ferguson for a six with a mistimed pull shot in the the 28th over to reach 39 off 42 balls.

His strike rate was almost 93 at the time. Thanks to his positive batting, the required rate was well below 5.5 and Bangladesh were very much in contention in the match despite being five down.

When Mahmdullah departed in the 36th over as the seventh Bangladesh batter, the required rate had shot up to around 7.5 and the match was all but over for the Tigers.

This dramatic increase in the required rate was the direct result of Mahmudullah changing gears once he entered the 40s.

Mahmudullah took 34 balls to score the last 10 runs of his innings, 25 of which were dot balls. His strike rate also nosedived to below 65.

His failure to rotate the strike and the rising required rate forced him into a corner where he felt had to go for a big shot.

He tried to do that against Cole McConchie but ended up giving an easy catch to Finn Allen.

Mahmudullah failed to kick on after a good start and practically let the match slip away from Bangladesh.

He might have ended as the highest run getter for the team but it didn’t have any impact on the end result as Bangladesh fell well short of the target, losing the match by 86 runs.

The innings showed that Mahmudullah still has the same lackings which led to him losing his place in the side in the first place.

There is still one game to go where Mahmudullah is likely to get another chance to show his chops as a finisher.

But if he continues to bat in the same manner and still gets a spot in the World Cup squad it would stand as another example of how players in Bangladesh keep getting chances not owing to their performance but because of the failure of other players to step up.