Tamim living his World Cup dream

Dhaka, Feb 28 (AFP) Think World Cup openers and the namesflow easily - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, KevinPietersen, Andrew Strauss, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle.

Add to the elite list Bangladesh''s Tamim Iqbal, who isjust as explosive at the top of the order and as integral tothe team''s cause as any of his contemporary superstars.

If Bangladesh are to progress far in the showpiece event,much will depend how the left-hander, one of the most excitingprospects in world cricket, fares.

Tamim, who turns 22 in March, went into the World Cupdetermined to be his team''s top scorer in every match, and hehas so far kept that promise in the two matches Bangladeshhave played.

Tamim made 70 during a losing, but spirited chase ofIndia''s mammoth 370-4 in the opener, before scoring 44 off 43balls in his team''s modest, but winning, 205 against Ireland.

A diving catch on the mid-wicket fence to dismissIreland''s Niall O''Brien, ensured that Tamim won the man of thematch award even though seamer Shafiul Islam stole thelimelight with his 4-21 burst.

Tamim, who speaks as freely as he bats, admitted theaward surprised him.

"I think I got the nod for that catch," he said. "Shafiuldeserved it more, but whoever judged it, thank you for that."

Tamim bruised his left-hand while taking the catch, butprecautionary x-rays and scans cleared him of any seriousdamage, even though he had injured the same hand last year.

"He has just damaged some soft tissues in his left handand should be okay within two or three days," said teammanager Tanjeeb Ahsan. MORE (AFP) PM