Tamim Iqbal Reveals He Used To Feel Ashamed Of Himself After Seeing Virat Kohli Work So Hard On His Fitness 2-3 Years Ago

Tamim Iqbal has been the bedrock of the Bangladeshi batting-unit ever since he made his debut for the national side back in 2007.

The swashbuckling left-handed opener has racked over 10,000 International runs across formats and is Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in One day International cricket.

Tamim recently engaged in a freewheeling chat with a former Indian cricketer-turned commentator, where he opened up about a lot of issues related to his career and also about his new fitness schedule.

Tamim admitted that India’s whirlwind change in approach towards fitness impacted Bangladesh the most.

“I must say this. This is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, who is an ex-cricketer. I think because India is our neighbour country, we follow a lot of things about what’s happening in India. As soon as India started to change regarding fitness, that impacted Bangladesh the most,” Tamim Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar for ESPNCricinfo’s Videocast.

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‘I used to be ashamed of myself’- Tamim Iqbal

Tamim also heaped high praise on Indian Captain Virat Kohli, admitting that he used to feel ashamed seeing the Indian superstar being so focussed on his fitness. Tamim said he used to think that he is not even doing half of what Virat is doing, despite both of them being of the same age.

“I have no shame to tell you this, I think this should be out, when I used to see Virat Kohli, 2-3 years back, doing all those gym things and running around, I used to be ashamed of myself. Honestly, I used to be ashamed of myself,” Tamim Iqbal revealed.

“I used to think ‘see this is a guy who is probably my age doing kind of things, training so much for success. Me, maybe is not doing half of what he is doing. At least, if I can’t match his level, try to follow his path. Maybe I can reach 50-60 percent.” he added.

Tamim Iqbal also talked about the change in the thought process that has taken place in Bangladesh cricket since he started playing. Iqbal revealed that when he made his debut, the main focus of every Bangladesh batsman including him was to score a half-century, something he believes has changed dramatically as young players coming into the set-up now aim for daddy hundreds.

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