Both Tamims set to open together for Tamim XI

In the centre wicket of the national cricket stadium in Mirpur, Taijul Islam, Mehedy Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Mosaddek Hossain and Minhajul Abedin Afridi are taking turns to bowl during practice. Batting at one end is Tamim, and at the other end is also another Tamim. One is Bangladesh national ODI team Tamim Iqbal and the other is under-19 cricket World Cup winner Tanzid Hasan Tamim. Even though both batsmen are changing ends, the name remains the same. 

During practice, both players have been responding to their name when called, together, which is Tamim and that has caused a bit of confusion. As a result, to confirm who is being called, one is being called Tamim senior, and the other, Tamim junior. Both Tamim's are playing for Tamim XI in the ongoing President's Cup. Since both Tamim's are travelling and practising together, a new name is being thought of for the junior Tamim. 

With the second one-dayer set to take place on Tuesday, between Mahmudullah XI and Tamim XI at Mirpur, Tamim's team took to training under floodlights on Monday evening, Both Tamim's are set to open the batting in the next game and they are looking to find a solution to avoid the same name confusion. 

After practice on Monday, Tamim Iqbal said: "I will open the batting with another Tamim tomorrow. We get a bit confused when called Tamim. I've been called Tamim Bhai for all this time and some call me Tamim too. So when that happens, we both look to see who's being called. So that's why we're thinking of calling him a different name." 

Although the name is creating a bit of confusion, there is no confusion about the talent of Tanzid Hasan Tamim. Tamim Iqbal has been watching him bat closely at the nets and believes the younger Tamim has a big future ahead of him. 

The senior Tamim is looking forward to opening the innings with his junior counterpart: "From what I have seen, the way he has been batting in the nets, he looks a big prospect. I hope he can go a long way in his career and I am eagerly waiting to open the innings with him."

Ahead of the game against Mahmudullah XI, Tamim is satisfied with his team's preparation. With two days extra to train compared to the other two teams, Tamim believes his team have an advantage: "The training has been very good and as a team we have had two days more than the others to better prepare ourselves. And this was a big plus for us."

Tamim XI has four under-19 World Cup winners in it in Akbar Ali, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shoriful Islam and Shahadat Hossain and Tamim took the chance to hear about the momentous World Cup win from the players who won it for Bangladesh.

এই টুর্নামেন্টে খেলতে সবাই রোমাঞ্চিত জানিয়ে তামিম বলেন, '            অনূর্ধ্ব-১৯ দলের কিছু খেলোয়াড় আছে। তারাও এখন দলে। ওদের সাথে অনুশীলনের একটা অভিজ্ঞতাও হয়েছে। ওরা অনূর্ধ্ব-১৯ বিশ্বকাপে কিভাবে কী করলো, সে বিষয়েও কথা হয়েছে। এই আসরটি হাই-ভোল্টেজ হবে। প্রতিটি খেলোয়াড় রোমাঞ্চিত। আমরা আজ ভালো অনুশীলন করেছি। আশা করি কালকের ম্যাচ দারুণ হবে।' 

"There are a few players from the under-19 World Cup-winning team and it has been a good experience training with them. I got to find out how they did things in the under-19 World Cup. This tri-team one-day tournament will be a high voltage affair. The boys from the under-19 World Cup team are all excited to be part of the tournament. We've had a good practice session and let's hope we can carry on the good vibes and do something great in the game."