Tamim named Wisden Cricketer Test Player of the Year

Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh's talismanic opener, has been named Test Player of the Year by the Wisden Cricketer magazine.

On the day his team-mates recorded Bangladesh's first series win against top-flight opposition - by beating New Zealand - Tamim beat contenders Graeme Swann and Virender Sehwag, who came second and third.

During the qualifying period Tamim made 837 runs at 59.78 in seven Tests, despite his team failing to win a single Test during the year. He made 151 against India at Dhaka back in January but the highlight of the year was a pair of hundreds at Lord's and Old Trafford against a potent England attack in May and June. "The century against England at Lord's is a special one," he told PTI, "but I consider my innings at Old Trafford as a better effort."

Tamim said the aggressive batting of Sehwag was an inspiration. "When I first came into scene, I wasn't doing badly in the one-dayers but in Test cricket, I used to be caught in two minds. Whether to attack or defend and more importantly when to attack," he said. "Sehwag is one batsman who changed the grammar of batting as far as Test openers are concerned. After a certain point of time, I decided that I will play my natural game just like Sehwag does. That is to dominate the bowlers and fortunately I have been successful in my endeavour."

The award is calculated by the marks out of 10 that the Wisden Cricketer's reporters give each player at every Test and is the second successive time a Bangladesh player has won the award after Shakib Al Hasan won last year.

Tamim is currently recovering from surgery on his wrist that had ruled him out of the New Zealand series.