He not only inscribed his name in the Bangladesh cricket folklore with prolific batting performance, Tamim Iqbal also is the first man to give his helping hand always regardless of the cricketers, fans and the general people. The Bangladesh opener doesn’t have any history to back out to solve anyone’s problem if he knows it.

Bangladesh ODI women’s team captain Rumana Ahmed however got the proof just ahead of leaving the country for South Africa, where they will play five ODIs and three T20Is.

Rumana was in a problem after her bats, which she had brought along with cricket gears from Australia after her Brisbane Heat stint at the Big Bash League this season, were stolen. As the South Africa tour is knocking at the door, she was in a dilemma over how to manage a good bat ahead of the series.

She tried to manage a bat, possibly from the male cricketers, who usually have better sponsors and cricket gears. Rumana eventually managed to get hold of Tamim, who was at the BCB headquarters Thursday afternoon and asked if Tamim had any bat to sell.

After coming to know about the issue, Tamim arranged a personal bat form his kit bag which was at the indoor practice facilities. Later, Tamim asked her to meet him at the BCB office. Upon meeting her, Tamim gave his bat to Rumana. She looked extremely happy after solving her problem.

When Rumana asked how much she has to pay for the bat, a smiling Tamim replied humbly, “You don’t need to pay for it. Keep it and good luck for the South Africa tour.”

Tamim even told Rumana that he will try to arrange sponsors for the national women’s team’s kits and gears after the South Africa tour. The Bangladesh women’s team will depart for South Africa Saturday.

Normally, Rumana tries to source high-quality bats from abroad, since they are difficult to find in Dhaka and the Bangladesh women cricketers aren't at the economic level of their male counterparts. Rumana is probably the best paid among the current women players but still, a good bat would cost her as much as her BCB monthly salary of BDT 30,000 (USD 350 approx).

“I am extremely happy that our brothers came up as a help of us. My bats were stolen just before the camp starts. When I shared the problem with Tamim Iqbal, he gifted me a bat,” said Rumana Ahmed.

“He also wishes a good luck for us for the South Africa tour, which I think will be very difficult. I will try to honour his word by showing good performance there.”

Rumana and her teams had a camp in Sylhet. However she didn’t look so confident of winning the series as she said that their main target will be to gain experience.

“This will be tough series. Since it’s a five-match series, hopefully we can win some games. But this will be a great experience for us.”