I don't play the bowler by his name: Iqbal

Port of Spain, Trinidad: "Who is this batsman?" wondered most Indian journalists when Tamim Iqbal began whacking the Indian opening attack with disdain.

A Bangladesh journalist, seated next to me, had a tough time handling the flood of queries. They found it hard to believe the batsman who was executing those flowing drives off Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel was only a 17-year-old boy.

Iqbal hit a whirlwind 51 off 53 balls studded with 7 four and 2 sixes.

Iqbal was delighted with his knock. It was his first half century in only his fifth one-dayer.

So how did his cricketing career begin?

"I come from a cricket-crazy family. I am the younger brother of Nafis Iqbal and nephew of former Bangladesh skipper Akram Khan," he said proudly.

Though it was Mashrafe Mortaza who destroyed the Indian innings by picking up 4 wickets, it was Iqbal who upset Dravid's plan of a fightback with his breezy knock.

During the warm-up match against New Zealand too Iqbal had thrashed the Kiwi attack led by none other than Shane Bond, scoring 46 off just 48 balls.

So what is his strong point as a batsman?

"I am fearless. I don't play the bowler by his name. I only look at the ball and hit it hard," he said.

On how he psyches himself up to be fearless, he said: "I told myself before coming to the World Cup that I need to be strong and brave.

"Fortunately for me, my coach and teammates let me play my natural game."

This fearless youngster, who turns 18 tomorrow, caught the attention of the senior team selectors when he cracked 112 off just 71 balls against England during the under-19 team's tour.

Bangladesh skipper, Habibul Bashar said: "Iqbal is so explosive a batsman that once he starts hitting it is difficult to stop him. The world will hear a lot about him in the coming years."