Tamim fulfils dreams of 18-inch polio patient Shaheen

Shaheen Fakir from Barishal had one of his biggest dreams come true when he got to meet the ODI captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, Tamim Iqbal.

Affected by polio since birth, Shaheen has had to live with this physical disability, with his height stopping at just 18 inches.

With the Bangladesh team in Sylhet for the ODI series against Ireland, Tamim invited Shaheen for a meet and greet. 

For better mobility, Shaheen wanted a motorized wheelchair, and that is what Tamim has assured to give him. 

Mushfiqur Rahim also decided to help fulfil Shaheen's wishes and will partner with Tamim here.

Shaheen is the son of Abul Hashem Fakir of the Char Commissioner area of Muladi Upazila in Barisal.

He lives in a joint family with his parents, two brothers, four sisters and cousins.

Shaheen is not dependent on anyone even though he has a physical disability.

For the past five years, he has made himself financially independent through a small shop.

In addition to mobile banking services, Shaheen sells some products including children's chocolates and biscuits in his shop.

On 10 March, a leading online news portal of the country published a report about Shaheen where he spoke about his dream of meeting Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim.

Tamim noticed the report and invited Shaheen to come to Sylhet, to which Shaheen gladly obliged.

Shaheen came to Sylhet with four family members on Friday, at the Grand Sylhet Hotel where the Bangladesh team is staying.

On Friday, there was a trophy unveiling ceremony for the Bangladesh-Ireland ODI series, and Tamim was busy here.

Shaheen and his family members were then waiting outside the gate of Grand Sylhet.

Knowing this, Tamim arranged to bring them inside.

Finally came the golden moment of Shaheen's life, Tamim standing in front.

Shaheen told his story of how he came to love cricket and how he become a fan of Tamim. 

Tamim called Mushfiqur to surprise Shaheen and his family members.

During Shaheen's chat with Tamim and Mushfiq, former Bangladesh batter Shahriar Nafees appeared there.

Tamim also introduced his elder brother and former national team opener Nafees Iqbal to Shaheen.

Tamim arranged five grandstand tickets for the first one-day match on Saturday for the other four who came with Shaheen.

The experienced opener brought his own jersey from the room and gifted it to Shaheen.

Tamim wrote on the jersey, "Lots of love to Shaheen."

An excited Shaheen said, "No one will believe that I have met Tamim Bhai. Someone make a video! I will show the video to everyone and tell them that I have met my Tamim Bhai." 

Expressing the feeling of meeting and chatting with his favourite cricketer, Shaheen said, "I never imagined that I would be able to meet Tamim Bhai. And he gave me money, fed me, gave me a ticket, and said he would give me a wheelchair. I can't even imagine these things."

After that, Tamim took a selfie with Shaheen and posted some pictures on his official Facebook page where Tamim wrote, "Be humble, be happy with what you have. Always say Alhamdulillah. It was very nice to meet this man from Barisal today."