Bangladeshi fan ‘Tiger’ Shoaib Ali had a breeze of a time with Rohit!

B’desh fan Shoaib Ali in Pune yesterday. Pic/Subodh Mayure

There are fans and die-hard fans. Dhaka-based Shoaib Ali, 34, better known in the Bangladeshi cricket fraternity as Tiger Shoaib, sure belongs to the latter category.

Here to support his national team, Shoaib enjoyed his moment in the sun when India captain Rohit Sharma caught up with him at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Gahunje earlier this week.

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Chat chance

Shoaib shared his most memorable experience of this World Cup with us, providing substantial evidence of him being a massive Rohit fan. "I was standing near the main gate of the stadium. Suddenly, I saw Rohit bhai in a blue car, approaching the gate. I waved to him and shouted, "Rohit bhai." He stopped the car, called me and spoke to me. This was beyond imagination - the India captain speaking with me. I am a very small fan, but he has a big heart. He treated me very well. I have been following his career for a long time, but now I have become his big fan. I pray to God that he will play even better than he is playing," Shoaib told mid-day.

Shoaib, who used to be a car mechanic, has been following the Bangladesh team for more than a decade. He revealed how he managed to travel the world. "I now work at my friend's car showroom as a part-time salesman. I usually sell two to three secondhand cars a month at nearly 40,000 Bangladeshi Taka [around Rs 30,000] per vehicle and I earn a good amount of money."

Grateful to Tamim

Following Bangladesh in this World Cup would cost him around R3 lakh. He is grateful to cricketer Tamim Iqbal for lending a helping hand to handle some of his expenses. "I also got sponsorship [pointing to his jersey] to support the Bangladesh team. Tamim bhai helped me a lot to get financial support. He is a gentleman and a superstar of our nation. Other Bangladeshi cricketers have helped me too and always ask whether I need more help. The Bangladesh team provided me match tickets for all their World Cup games," Shoaib said.

So what's his view on the team? "Bangladesh's performance is very good, but I want them to do well in the World Cup. India are a strong team and we are afraid of all Indian players especially Rohit bhai and Virat bhai [Kohli]," he signed off.