From Mashrafe to Tamim, history repeats itself
A cricketer, loved by millions, a bona fide star in Bangladesh cricket, was all set to lead the country in the biggest cricketing extravaganza in the world, the ICC Cricket World Cup.
But as the World Cup drew near, his body betrayed him and he had no choice but to relinquish his captaincy and hand it over to Shakib Al Hasan.
Still, he was expected to be an integral part of the team in the World Cup. But in the end, when the 15-man squad for the showcase event was announced, his name was missing.
Now, at this point you may be thinking I’m talking about a certain Southpaw from Chattogram. But I’m not. The player I’m referring to is not an opener but a fast bowler from Narail who went onto become the country’s best ever captain in limited-over’s cricket till date. His name, of course, is Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Now, when one thinks about World Cups and Mashrafe, the image that comes to mind is one of him marshaling the team from the front in the 2015 World Cup in Australia, where the Tigers knocked out the English Lions and reached the quarterfinal of the competition for the very first time.
But just four years before that, Mashrafe was left in tears at the home of cricket in Mirpur, when he was not included in the squad for the World Cup.
The fast bowler had claimed that he was fit enough to play the World Cup. But the selection panel and the team management took the bold decision to leave him out of the tournament as he wasn’t a hundred per cent fit.
A lot has happened since. Mashrafe got his redemption in the 2015 World Cup, then led the team to incredible success at home in bilateral series, captained the team to a semifinal in the ICC Champions Trophy and a couple of finals in the Asia Cup.
Although his captaincy ended on an underwhelming note, he had done enough to secure his status as the country’s best ever captain.
So when finally Mashrafe stepped down, he left giant shoes to fill. And the player who was entrusted to fill that gap was Tamim Iqbal.
One could claim that Tamim became the captain incidentally. Shakib was the prime candidate to take over from Mashrafe. But a one-year ban from the ICC for keeping undisclosed contacts with bookmakers meant Shakib was out of the picture for the time being.
The BCB then had almost no other choice but to trust Tamim to lead the team. And to his credit, Tamim did a commendable job as captain.
His winning percentage is second to only Mashrafe, he maintained Bangladesh’s unbeaten run in ODI series at home till 2022 and even won a series against the Proteas in South Africa, a never before done achievement for a touring Bangladesh side.
Under his leadership, Bangladesh finished third in the ICC ODI Super League and were one of the first teams to seal a spot in the ICC World Cup 2023.
Even a year back, Tamim was all but sure to lead Bangladesh in the showcase event.
And now, with the team just hours away from flying to India for the World Cup, Tamim’s tournament is already over.
After delaying as long as possible, the selectors finally announced the list of 15 players who will represent Bangladesh in the World Cup on Tuesday after the 3rd ODI against New Zealand, which the hosts lost by seven wickets.
The veteran Mahmudullah earned a place in the squad, so did young guns Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Tanzim Hasan Sakib. But Tamim’s name was nowhere to be seen.
The sequence of events leading to Tamim relinquishing captaincy has been told and retold so many times that at this point, everyone already knows it by heart.
But the events leading to Tamim’s exclusion from the World Cup squad are recent as before Monday night, Tamim’s spot in the World Cup squad seemed certain.
On Saturday, Tamim hit a 44 against New Zealand in his first innings in an international match in two months. But in the press conference, he said that he is still not a hundred per cent fit.
And in the end, it all came down to semantics. Tamim apparently informed the selectors that he is not completely fit and could miss a few matches in the World Cup if he is selected. On the other hand, head coach Hathurusingha and skipper Shakib Al Hasan reportedly told the BCB president at midnight on Monday that they don’t want to take an ‘unfit’ player to the World Cup.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh took on New Zealand but the real action was taking place in the board office.
Several informal meetings took place and Mashrafe also came to the BCB headquarters for a meeting.
The BCB was supposed to announce the squad on social media in the mid-innings break of the third ODI but then delayed it till the end of the game.
Rumours were running rampant on social media that Tamim won’t be a part of the squad. And in the end, the rumours proved to be true.
Tamim, the country’s highest run-getter in each format, will not represent the Tigers in the 2023 World Cup.
And with that, the Southpaw’s journey in World Cups has also seemingly come to an end.
Tamim had announced his arrival in international cricket by dancing down the track to Zaheer Khan and smashing him for sixes in Bangladesh’s famous victory over India in the 2007 World Cup.
The hope among his fans was that the maverick opener will also end his World Cup journey with a similar flourish in India. But as things stand, that won’t happen.
Mashrafe got an opportunity to bounce back from the heartbreak in 2011 with an incredible triumph in 2015.
But at 34 years of age and with his ailing back, it seems unlikely that Tamim will get that chance and the parallels between him and Mashrafe will sadly end with the heartbreak.