Tamim Iqbal

Tamim, a young talent of Bangladesh, who played in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, was picked for the 2007 World Cup and played against India in the group stage of the competition, scoring 51 runs from 53 deliveries, helping his team to win the match. In December that year, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) granted Tamim a one-year grade C contract, one of 22 central contracts held by the Board at the time. Although he was still in the lowest tier of central contracts, it was an extension of his previous contract, which lasted six months.

Bangladesh's coach, Jamie Siddons, opined in January 2010 that Tamim had "the makings of a world-class opener". On 25 January Tamim Iqbal scored 151 in a record partnership with Junaid Siddique against India.

During the first innings of the first Test against England in March 2010, Tamim scored 86 runs from 120 deliveries. In the process he became the fastest Bangladesh batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs in terms of innings, taking 19 to reach the landmark. He also became the third-youngest player in Test history (behind Sachin Tendulkar and compatriot Mohammad Ashraful) to reach 1,000 Test runs.

In December 2010, Tamim replaced Mushfiqur Rahim as Bangladesh's vice-captain. In the opening match of the 2011 World Cup he scored 70 against India in a losing cause. In the following match against Ireland he scored 44 off 43 balls, and took a catch. In the next game against the West Indies, Tamim was caught at the slips for a third-ball duck as Bangladesh folded for its lowest ODI score, 58 all out. The following game against England he scored a quick fire 38 to get his side off to another good start, with Bangladesh eventually winning by two wickets.

In 2011, Tamim was signed by the county club Nottinghamshire, becoming the second Bangladeshi after Shakib Al Hasan to play for an English domestic club. In late October 2012, Wellington Firebirds signed him for the New Zealand domestic HRV Cup, a T20 competition. Tamim was the first Bangladeshi to play in a New Zealand domestic league.

In May that year, Bangladesh toured England for two more Tests and three ODIs. Though his team lost 2–0, Tamim scored a century in each of the Tests. For his performances against England, Tamim was named one of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack's four Cricketers of the Year in 2011. In October he was also named Wisden's Test Player of the Year, ahead of Graeme Swann and Virender Sehwag, who came second and third respectively. During the qualifying period for the award, Tamim scored 837 runs in seven Tests at an average of 59.78. It was just the second time a Bangladesh player had won the award, as Shakib Al Hasan was named the previous year. At the start of November, the BCB announced 16 central contracts. Tamim was one of six players at the top level.

Tamim became only the second Bangladeshi to play county cricket in England (Shakib Al Hasan was the first) when he signed to play for Nottinghamshire in June 2011. He was recruited as a short-term replacement for Australian batsmen David Hussey, who was called up to the national squad. During his stay, Tamim played five matches, scoring 104 runs with a highest score of 47. Tamim, whose batting was described in the Nottingham Post as "solid if unspectacular", remarked of his performance that "It could have been better, but it wasn't too bad". Even though he was playing in a foreign country, there was pressure from the media in Bangladesh for Tamim to perform – especially when Nottinghamshire faced Worcestershire who were fielding Shakib Al Hasan – with his exploits sometimes making the front pages.

When Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe in July 2011 for a single Test and five ODIs, they did so with the expectation of winning. Zimbabwe were returning from a six-year exile from Tests, although Bangladesh had not played in the format in more than 14 months. Despite claiming in a press conference that Zimbabwe's bowlers posed little threat, Tamim managed 58 runs in the Test as Bangladesh slid to defeat. Bangladesh lost the following ODI series against Zimbabwe 3–2. Bangladesh's batsmen struggled early in the series, with Tamim managing 157 runs from five innings at an average of 31.40. In the aftermath of the series, Shakib and Tamim were sacked as captain and vice-captain, with a BCB representative citing their poor leadership.

West Indies toured in October, facing Bangladesh in a T20I, three ODIs and two Tests. Though Bangladesh lost the Test series 1–0, Tamim was his team's leading run-scorer with 186 from four innings, including two half-centuries. The BCB founded the six-team Bangladesh Premier League in 2012, a twenty20 tournament to be held in February that year. The BCB made Tamim the 'icon player' for Chittagong Kings. However, his appearances were limited due to a groin injury and he played just two matches and scored eight runs.

In March 2012 Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup. Tamim, who was recovering from typhoid, was initially dropped from the squad on the orders of BCB president Mustafa Kamal. Controversy ensued as Kamal had overridden the selection committee and eventually Tamim was re-added to the squad. He responded by striking four consecutive half-centuries, becoming the first Bangladesh player to achieve the feat in ODIs. Bangladesh progressed to the final against all expectations, although they lost to Pakistan by 2 runs. Later that month Tamim signed with Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League, but did not play a single match for the team. In April his top-level central contract with the BCB was renewed.

In late 2012 Bangladesh hosted West Indies, where Bangladesh won the ODI series, despite losing the T20 and the Test series. His highest score during the ODI and Test series was 58 and 72 respectively. Tamim's best performance in the overall series was the unbeaten 88 in the lone T20 match, despite losing the match for 18 runs short.

He married Ayesha Siddiqa in June 2013 with a grand ceremony held at Chittagong. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was also present at the event. He had his first son Arham on 28 February 2016. Also, he had his first daughter Alishba on 19 November 2019.

After the West Indies series 2011/12, Tamim went to New Zealand to join the Wellington Firebirds. In his month-long spell with the Firebirds, he scored 232 runs, including two half-centuries with an average of 38.66. He came back to Bangladesh in mid January to lead Duronto Rajshahi in second edition of BPL. He was picked up by Wayamba United for the 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League. He was signed by the Pune Warriors India for 2012 Indian Premier League, but didn't featured in a single match. He was classified as an international elite player for the inaugural Caribbean Premier League in 2013. In July 2014, he played for the Rest of the World side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.

In March 2013, when Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka, Tamim was not selected for the first Test but made 10 and 59 in the following Test. In the first ODI, Tamim became the first Bangladeshi to score a hundred against Sri Lanka with a 136-ball 112 before being run out. Bangladesh scored 259 in their innings, but Sri Lanka managed to chase their target down.

After the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh played a home series against Pakistan. Tamim played a superb ODI series against Pakistan, where he scored two back-to-back match-winning centuries. Eventually, Bangladesh white-washed Pakistan for the first time in an ODI series and Tamim was named as the Man of the series. He further helped Bangladesh win first ever series against India and also a series win against South Africa. He scored an unbeaten 61 in the last ODI to help the team win the series 2–1.

In August 2016, Tamim sustained a fracture on the little finger, which ruled him out from competitive cricket for around three weeks. This means that he could be uncertain for selection for the ODIs against Afghanistan. but he was selected for ODIs and scored 80 and 118 in the first and third ODIs against Afghanistan.

As of 6 March 2020, Tamim Iqbal has scored most number of centuries among any Bangladeshi batsmen across all format (23). He is the only Bangladeshi batsman to score a minimum of one century in all three format. He achieved this feat when he scored his one T20I century against Oman at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala in 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

During the first ODI against Sri Lanka on 26 March 2017, Tamim became the first Bangladeshi to score 10,000 international runs.

In August 2017, he was named in a World XI side to play three Twenty20 International matches against Pakistan in the 2017 Independence Cup in Lahore.

In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Comilla Victorians team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Comilla Victorians won the tournament, after beating Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs in the final, with Tamim scoring 141 not out, his first century in the BPL & scored 467 runs in this Tournament. In November 2019, was selected to play for the Dhaka Platoon in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. and in the tournament he became first cricketer to past 2000 runs in BPL history.

On 23 January 2018 against Zimbabwe, Tamim became the first batsman for Bangladesh to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs. During this innings, Tamim also went past Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya's 2,514 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium to become highest run-scorer at a single venue in ODIs.

In April 2018, he was one of ten cricketers to be awarded a central contract by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) ahead of the 2018 season. In the same month, he was named in the Rest of the World XI squad for the one-off T20I against the West Indies, to be played at Lord's on 31 May 2018.

In July 2018, Tamim scored 287 runs with an average of 143.5 in a three-match series against West Indies and became the man of the series for the 4th time in ODI career, which was the second highest for a Bangladeshi player in ODI after Shakib Al Hasan. He jumped to the 13th position in ICC ODI Batsman Ranking with a career highest rating point of 737.

In April 2019, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On 2 July 2019, in the match against India, Tamim played in his 200th ODI.

In July 2019, Bangladesh's regular captain Mashrafe Mortaza was ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury. Tamim was named as captain for the first time in ODIs. Prior to that he had only lead Bangladesh in one Test match in 2017 against New Zealand.

In March 2020, when Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh, he scored 158 runs off 136 balls in the 2nd ODI, highest individual score by any Bangladeshi batsman also second Bangladeshi batsman scored a century at Sylhet and he became the first Bangladeshi batsman to score 7,000 runs in ODIs. In the 3rd ODI, He scored 128 runs off 109 balls and made a partnership of 292 runs with Litton Das in the opening wicket which is the highest partnership for Bangladesh for any wicket in ODIs..He scored 310 runs at an average of 155.50 in the ODI series and eventually become the "Player of the Tournament" jointly with Liton Das.

On 8 March 2020, Tamim was named the ODI captain of Bangladesh after Mashrafe Mortaza stepped down as ODI captain post Zimbabwe series in March 2020.