Yesterday morning, youngster Tanzid Hasan Tamim got a taste of the national team's atmosphere in more ways than one.

Facing Taskin Ahmed, albeit in a match-scenario training, is a difficult prospect even for someone playing international cricket. When the 22-year-old picked Taskin off for six over square-leg, with what could best be described as something in between a front foot pull and a flick, it showed his potential for havoc; an x-factor perhaps. Chandika Hathurusingha was watching closely from the sidelines.

Tanzid got his call yesterday for a very important Asia Cup tournament with the World Cup looming in the horizon. His namesake Tamim Iqbal's injury had put him in the squad and, going by current form, he may well be the main opener alongside Liton Das in the upcoming tournament in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Taskin bowled with venom yesterday, often getting the ball to tail in viciously at the left-hander. He got Tanzid's scalp as well, although the youngster had pointed to his bat after pace-bowling coach Allan Donald, standing-in as the umpire, raised his finger for a leg-before decision.

Before that, Tanzid looked unnerved against Taskin and Hasan Mahmud's short stuff. A glorious cover-drive off Hasan, a few lofted shots for four against Mustafizur Rahman showed he was not out of place amongst the big boys.

Adventure was part of his strength and struggle through to his national team journey.

Tanzid is a product of Bangla Trac academy, under former Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon who remembered the criticism he once faced when picking Tanzid for Dhaka Dynamites in 2020.

"When Tanzid called me this morning and said he was picked, I started remembering that day and the manner of criticism I faced for having picked him.

"I knew he had potential. He is good at playing the cut and pull shots. He is also good at drives and over the top shots. This morning I told him that you have to play your own natural game when you get the opportunity. If he tries to change his natural game, curb his aggressive instinct, it will only cause him hardship," Mahmud told The Daily Star yesterday.

Tawhid Hridoy also hails from the same Bangla Trac batch as Tanzid. "Hridoy was more disciplined while Tanzid was more adventurous," Mahmud recalled.

Having first entered the limelight for Uttara Sporting Club in the Dhaka First Division Cricket League in 2017-18, his two tons that season saw his prospects improve with U-17 selection. Tanzid would then make the U-19s side after scoring 371 runs in the next season for Uttara.

A lean patch, too, came in 2022 as he suffered a shoulder injury following the tournament. 474 runs for Brothers Union in the last DPL showed he can suffer and rise.

"He had a lean patch in between, after the initial burst, but it only made him stronger," Mahmud felt.

Mahmud, as manager of the U-19 World Cup-winning side in 2020, saw Tanzid's potential early.

"We knew that he had ability to play shots and also had power. He had innings which did not get too long but the starts were aggressive like Tamim's [Iqbal] and he had variety of shots. During the World Cup, he was getting out after scoring 40-50 quickly and coaches have worked on it. At Potchefstroom, he was sending deliveries out of the park," U-19 game development Abu Emam Mohammad Kawsar recalls.

The team management are banking on that potential. Judging by Hathurusingha's discussion with the opener, he may just be given the licence to go with the natural game he possesses.