Why don't Shakib and Tamim talk anymore

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president has opened up the ‘Pandora’s Box’. The most sensitive topic in Bangladesh cricket for the last 1-1.5 years is now out in the open. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal not being on speaking terms is now a subject that’s open for discussion.

But before getting into it, let’s go back a bit, to last year’s 23 March. Waves of red and green were everywhere at the Super Sport Park in Centurion. Bangladesh had won its maiden ODI series against South Africa in the opponent’s backyard. A photo that was clicked after that victory has quietly become a part of ‘history’. In that photo, the match-winning pair of Tamim and Shakib were embracing each other in celebration of the win.

The next day, I told one of them, after a long while Bangladesh cricket saw a photo like that. I hope the camaraderie seen in the picture doesn’t disappear and the real life picture matches the one taken after the victory. I said to him that it would be better if the embargo on communication between them finally gets lifted.

What he said in reply, is now irrelevant. After BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s interview to a cricket website, everyone already knows that Shakib and Tamim’s relation off the field is frosty. They are still not speaking with each other.

On the ground, they speak when the team requires. They celebrate together when an opponent wicket falls. They score runs in a partnership. But outside of that, they don’t have a cordial relationship as teammates. They are not friends, nor do they need to be, but they don’t even share a basic relationship for a long time.

It’s difficult to point out exactly when their relationship soured. But their relation has increasingly gotten worse over the past two years. They don’t talk with each other, almost like when kindergarten children have an argument and ‘end friendship’.

The animosity has reached a level where whenever one is chatting with teammates at the dressing room, team hotel or at some other else, the other goes away from there or chooses not to participate in the first place.

It’s difficult to point at a specific date when their relationship started getting bad. But slowly, the number of grudges they hold against each other has increased in number. In some discussions, those gripes seemed only personal in nature. There might be some familial matters as well. There are also some allegations that involve the team. Without proof, it’s better not to go into more details. Moreover, those don’t seem like big enough excuses to not speak with a teammate for so long.

The personal rift between senior cricketers like Shakib and Tamim, who are the two biggest stars of Bangladesh cricket, lead the team in all three formats and also play under each other’s captaincy, is really unfortunate for the country’s cricket.

Yes, people can ask, if the two are communicating on the field, then what is the need for so much talk about what they do outside of the field. That is their personal matter. Many can also give examples of players from other countries who are teammates but don’t speak with each other.

But one shouldn’t forget, the two people in question are not some X,Y,Z cricketers of Bangladesh. They are Shakib and Tamim, the two captains of Bangladesh, who the others follow.

The grouping in the Bangladesh team has originated from Shakib and Tamim not being on speaking terms. When there is a conflict at the leadership position, division in the team usually follows. Still, the cricketers deserve thanks as they haven’t taken advantage of the rift between the two seniors. The division happened mainly due to them wanting to stay in the good books of the two senior teammates.

After speaking with a number of cricketers of the Bangladesh team during the Tigers tour to South Africa last year, it seemed that they wanted this uncomfortable situation to end. One of the cricketers said, “We feel scared all the time. We fear that one of the seniors might take offence if he sees us speaking with the other senior. If I go out to eat with one, the other might not like it.”

Some of the players even have had to relay what exactly one senior said in a discussion to the other senior who was not there.

After speaking with other members of the team management, it became even more evident that the frosty relationship between Shakib and Tamim creates an uncomfortable and unhealthy environment in the dressing room.

A member of the coaching staff said, he spoke with the individuals separately and tried to explain to them that their personal rift is having a bad effect on the team. But apparently, neither of them paid too much heed to him. They didn’t even tell him why they are no longer on speaking terms.

After speaking with some of the BCB directors, it was evident that they have also given up on mending their relationship after multiple failed attempts (which the BCB president also talked about in that interview).

A BCB director said, “People from the outside don’t know what it’s like inside the team. The two most highly rated and important members of the team are not speaking with each other! The board has also failed to make them talk. What could be more unfortunate than this!”

However, the board did once manage to bring up the matter to both of them at the same time. They were asked to forget about everything and mend their relation. One of them responded positively, but the other person didn’t. He just had a grin on his face. Since then, the two still haven’t spoken with each other.

There is an allegation that the reason why the two seniors often opt out of series and tournaments for the national team is because of their personal gripe. Some doubts have been voiced in a couple of discussions in the team that they might be ‘limiting’ their performance under each other’s leadership.

All this happened in the last 1-1.5 years. Shakib and Tamim have not been on speaking terms for even longer. Attempts to find out the reason behind this conflict have thus far been unsuccessful.

Some personal differences have come to light. But it’s hard to believe that two responsible individuals would not talk to each other for so long for such small reasons. When the individuals who were supposed to tie the entire team together are pulling them apart, there is nothing much left to do.

But the BCB is feeling a little optimistic after reappointing Chandika Hathursingha as the head coach. They feel Hathuru will melt the frosty relation, or if needed, break it with a sledge hammer. To be honest, this is what the board meant when they said they want to restore order and a healthy environment in the team.

One of Hathurusingha’s main tasks is to bring Shakib and Tamim on the same page to restore discipline inside the dressing room and remove the invisible divide. In his first meeting with the team, the coach hinted on it with the message– The team always comes first.

But the problem is, in doing so, Bangladesh cricket could end up getting caught in a big ‘System Loss’. The BCB president also hinted at this point during his interview.

A storm is brewing, but perhaps it’s not a bad thing. Because storms eventually end. A lengthy depression at the sea is never a good thing as it increases the period of fear in the seashore of an impending storm. The Shakib-Tamim conflict has been brewing for a long time. The people on the shore, the Bangladesh team, have been in distress for a long time. It needs to come to an end.

The BCB president has opened the ‘Pandora’s Box’, the rest is up to Hathurusingha and before him, up to Shakib and Tamim. If they can bring the warmth and camaraderie they showed after the win in Centurion to their personal relationship, they will receive a raucous applause in the annals of Bangladesh cricket, the echoes of which would be heard even from light years away.

*This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy