Tamim-Shakib drama: Tumultuous five days of Bangladesh cricket

Tamim batted against New Zealand in the second ODI. It was his first innings since his retirement and prompt unretirement from international cricket back in July. Tamim scored 44 runs with the bat and looked in decent touch. In the post-match press conference he said that he is still feeling discomfort in his back.

Tamim also poked fun at the BCB president’s previous comments about his fitness by saying that he still isn’t a hundred per cent fit after recovering from his injury.

Tamim requested to be rested from the third ODI of the series against New Zealand as he didn’t want to risk an injury right before the World Cup.

A BCB source confirmed that Tamim has told the selectors that he won’t be hundred per cent fit during the World Cup and asked the selectors to keep that in mind before taking the call whether to include him in the squad or not. He also assured them that if selected he will give his utmost for the team.

At around midnight, captain Shakib Al Hasan and coach Chandika Hathurusingha met BCB president Nazmul Hassan at his residence. There the captain and coach apparently told the board president that they don’t want to bring an ‘unfit’ or ‘half-fit’ cricketer to the World Cup. Even if that player is as experienced as Tamim.

BCB was supposed to announce the squad in the mid-innings break of the 3rd ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand. The announcement got delayed to the end of the match.

When the World Cup squad finally got announced, Tamim was left out of it.

Tamim’s shocking snub continued the long-standing tradition in Bangladesh cricket of World Cup squad announcement being tangled in controversy.

Former captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza claimed that Tamim wasn’t left out of the squad as the opener himself had asked not to be considered for a spot in the World Cup squad.

At 11:23 am, in a status posted on Tamim’s official Facebook page, it read that Tamim will share his point of view of the events of the past few days which led to his omission from the World Cup squad. But he will post the video message after the national team leaves for India.

Amidst all of this, the Bangladesh team left for India.

At 5:05 pm, a video message was uploaded on Tamim’s official Facebook page. In the video, Tamim claimed that his omission from the squad had nothing to with his fitness or injury. In the 12-minute-long video, he dropped several bombshells.

Tamim said that the physio report after the match against New Zealand said that Tamim was fit to play the 3rd ODI. The medical board’s report had suggested Tamim to rest that game to avoid any risk of deterioration. Tamim took their advice and asked for a rest for that match.

Tamim concluded his video by asking the fans not to forget about him.

In the video, Tamim had said that someone from the top brass of the cricket board had told him that he will have to bat in middle order against Afghanistan in the World Cup. Although Tamim didn’t name that person, but it was later found out that it was the BCB president Nazmul Hassan who had made that call.

Around six hours after Tamim’s video message, an exclusive pre-taped interview of Shakib was broadcast by T Sports. In that interview, Shakib labeled Tamim’s actions as ‘childish’ and questioned whether Tamim is a team man or not.

Bangladesh team’s logistics manager Nafees Iqbal had reportedly left the dressing room during the third ODI. This incident also came up during Shakib’s interview. Nafees clarified his stance about what had happened in a lengthy status on Facebook.

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza also posted a video message on Facebook on the issue. He said that Shakib himself should’ve spoken with Tamim as the team’s captain.

Mashrafe also feels that as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had earlier convinced Tamim to play in this year’s World Cup, there should’ve been no debate about his place in the squad. All discussions about which position he would bat at could’ve taken place after the team was in India.

In the second part of his interview with T Sports, Shakib directly blamed Tamim for the team’s ODI series defeat against Afghanistan in July. Tamim had declared his retirement from international cricket after the first ODI, which Bangladesh had lost. Shakib feels that the team is still recovering from the shock of Tamim’s announcement.

Shakib also said that the only player he will miss in the World Cup will be pacer Ebadot Hossain. Ebadot got ruled out of the World Cup owing to a knee injury. Shakib feels that other than Ebadot’s absence, the World Cup team has no weaknesses.