Watch: Tamim Iqbal's one-hand batting which won million hearts

Keeping the competition aside, Tamim proved what does ‘serving the nation’ actually means

Tamim Iqbal may have been ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup because of a broken wrist but the example of true a sportsman he put up against Sri Lanka on Saturday is tough to express in words.

Nobody has expected that Bangladesh will miss their dynamic opening batsman right in the beginning of a major international tournament. A delivery from Suranga Lakmal hit him on his glove after which he had to leave the field in pain.

Soon he was taken to a hospital from where he returned with a plastered wrist. Yet he had the courage to pad up and went to bat against the Lankan bowling attack.

This time with one hand, his act of bravado receiving instant applause in the real and virtual world.

Here’s the video:

Tamim Iqbal batting with one hand and the other hanging out of his glove with a taped wrist.

This is either brave or stupid, and often there is a very fine line between the two. #BANvSL #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/8hthq4VXme

— anchorprashant (@anchorprashant) September 16, 2018

He hung on with centurion Mushfiqur Rahim and helped add 32 for the final wicket, lifting his side to 261. The end result was a massive win for Bangladesh over Sri Lanka in the tournament opener.

Keeping the competition aside, Tamim proved what does ‘serving the nation’ actually means. He fought the battle with one arm which also drew appreciation from the opposition skipper, Angelo Mathews.

“Tamim showed a lot of guts. I though Mushfiqur batted really well. Mushfiqur was out there and he (Tamim) came in to bat. And that 20-30 runs also made the difference. It was a really bad performance from the batting unit.

“We had to change our combination because of Danuskha and Chandimal's injury. We went in with one less batsman thinking Dilruwan can bat at number eight. But one of the batting has to be done by one of the top order batters. They showed a lot of guts. Credits go to Bangladesh, they outplayed us in all three departments of the game,” Matthews said.