Tamim blasts ‘stupid’ question about batting at four

Bangladesh cricket team’s batting coach Jamie Siddons recently opined that the current One-Day International captain and the country’s most prolific opener Tamim Iqbal would do well batting at number four.

But on Sunday, Tamim denied any chances of batting lower down the order. He then went onto ridicule the question from the press, labeling it as a ‘stupid’ question.

Tamim spoke to the media about it during an agreement signing event in Dhaka, where he became telecom company Robi’s brand ambassador for two years.

“What do you think would be better, me batting at number four or opening the innings? I have no clue what was on the mind of the person that asked this question (to Siddons). But it was a very stupid question… Personally, I don’t see any reason to bat at number four. I’ve been doing fine as an opener for the last 17 years.”

In an international career spanning over 15 years, Tamim has come out to bat for Bangladesh in 429 innings. In 428 of those innings he came out to bat as an opener. The only time he batted lower down the order was against South Africa in a Test match in Potchefstroom in 2017.

In that match, Tamim was off the field for 49 minutes when South Africa declared their innings. Due to regulations, Tamim wasn’t allowed to open the innings as he had to sit out the time he was off the field. He eventually came out to bat at number five.

But out of the blue, on Saturday, Siddons told reporters after conducting a training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, “I think that even Tamim would enjoy coming down the order. I think he would do great at number four.”