Barbados: After spoiling India's party in the cricket World Cup, young Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal treasures the good words showered on him by rival skipper Rahul Dravid.

Dravid, despite being devastated by India's loss to Bangladesh on March 17, gave a good account of his sportsmanship.

Once back in his hotel in Port of Spain, Dravid asked Tamim if he could see him in his room.

Tamim, not knowing what to expect, knocked at Dravid's door with a little trepidation. And to his surprise, he saw Dravid waxing eloquent platitudes on his brilliant batting on the day.

Tamim had scored a half-century in stirring fashion after his side had been set a target of 192 in the afternoon.

The 17-year-old left-hander had gone after Indian medium-fast bowlers with gusto and even hoisted Zaheer Khan deep into the second tier of the mid-wicket stands.

Stirring moment

By the time he was out, Bangladesh was well on its way to script one of the most stirring moments of his nation's cricket history.

Dravid, in that evening, not only praised Tamim but also presented him with a bat as a token of his appreciation.

Tamim was overwhelmed but his happiness knew no bounds when the Indian captain gave him another bat to be given to young wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim.

Mushfiqur too had proved a big thorn in India's flesh that day when he scored an important half-century for Bangladesh and anchored its innings to safety.

Mushfiqur, promoted to one-drop, had batted sedately and opened out only towards the end to rush his team to victory.

Number of admirers

``I am overwhelmed. For him to do so after India's chances in the World Cup had taken a knock shows the spirit in which Dravid plays his cricket. We have a number of admirers for the Indian captain in our dressing room,'' he said.

Dravid is known for his gestures in international cricket. Periodically he offers advice to a number of young cricketers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on how to improve their cricket.

A number of Bangladesh cricketers benefited from his insight and advice on the game when India last toured the neighbouring country in 2004.

Batting tips

Pakistan's Younis Khan had also acknowledged how Dravid's advice turned around his career in 2004.

It was in the 2004 Champions Trophy in England when Younis had requested Dravid for batting tips.

``I talked with Dravid who gave me some tips about batting and about life. After that everything has changed so I have just followed his instructions and the results are there,'' he had said.

The results were so good for Younis that he, at one stage of his career, had hit four centuries in four Tests against India. — PTI

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