In March 2010, Tamim Iqbal went to Michael Atherton for some tips in his home town Chittagong. But the former England captain-turned-commentator did not feel himself qualified enough for the job. A few months later in his column in London Times, Atherton revealed the truth saying he thought Tamim was far better a batsman than he was and so he avoided it. Widely admired in England for his writings, Atherton proved right immediately with Tamim hitting back-to-back century in Lord’s and Old Trafford in Tests against his countrymen, something which not too many batsmen have done in recent times. A terrific batsman on his day, Tamim would straight walk into current Australian Test team, claimed Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons, himself an Australian, recently and understandably he found hardly anyone to disagree with him. Such a quality player Tamim is that it gave him and his family in Chittagong, which presented two other Test cricketers previously in his uncle Akram Khan and elder brother Nafees Iqbal, a new identity. The Khans at Kazir Deuri in Chittagong once were famous for his father Iqbal Khan, an outstanding footballer in his time. When Akram led Bangladesh to the ICC Trophy glory, it first changed its first identity. Nafees came with sheer talent but could not excel as much as he was expected to; so they were still known by Akram. But Tamim largely overshadowed his uncle and is now being compared with the likes of Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle, the two most devastating batsmen in the contemporary world. He entered stardom with an explosive fifty against India in Bangladesh’s first match of the last World Cup. Until then no Bangladeshi batsman dared to hit fast bowler a six going down the wicket and his fighting fire with fire had a tremendous impact on the attitude of the Bangladesh team. Tamim is first real master blaster Bangladesh have in their possession and a lot of their success in the World Cup will depend on his success. ‘I want to be the highest scorer in the World Cup,’ said a bold Tamim without showing any hesitation.
