Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan had some scornful words for his teammate Tamim Iqbal and called him "childish" for putting himself ahead of the team's needs. This comes after Iqbal was not included in the Bangladesh squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Battling a persistent back injury, Tamim Iqbal has not been a regular in Bangladesh side and this was cited as a reason for his exclusion from the World Cup squad. But on September 27, Tamim Iqbal, in a video on Facebook, insisted that he would be fit enough to play in the World Cup.
But he said that he will not be traveling to India because he has grown weary of BCB’s games and creating roadblocks for him. One of which was asking him to bat lower down the order during the ICC tournament.
In response to this, Shakib Al Hasan, who took over the captaincy after Tamim had stepped down due to his injury, said Tamim was being selfish in not thinking of the team.
"I am sure someone who is authorized had said this (to Tamim). I am sure whoever has said it, he thought of the team. A lot of things go into building a combination for a match. So if someone has said this to him, was it wrong? Or we can't make such a proposal? I am just going to tell someone that you can do whatever you want. Is the team first or the individual?" Shakib told Dhaka-based TV channel T-Sports.
"Someone like Rohit Sharma built his career from No. 7 to opener, scored 10,000-plus runs. If he sometimes bats at No. 3 or 4, would it be a big problem? It is childish. It is my bat, I will play. No one else can play. A player should bat at any position for the team. Team first. It doesn't make any difference if you have made 100 or 200, and the team loses. What can you do with personal achievement? You want to make a name for yourself?” he added, calling Tamim selfish.
Tamim’s issue started in July when he revealed that his back injury was troubling him. He even retired from cricket, only for Bangladesh PM to request him to come back. However, he missed the Asia Cup 2023 and the final match of his comeback series as well, against New Zealand, earlier this week.
Shakib said that Tamim wanted to play for fame and records not for the team.
"You are not thinking about the team at all. People don't understand these things. Why was the proposal given to him? It was for the team. What is wrong with that? You are a team man when you agree to such a proposal. Unless you are thinking along those lines, you are not a team man. You are playing for individual records, success, fame, and name. Not for the team,” Shakib said.
Shakib said he didn't want to carry a player with a fitness question mark over him into the World Cup and even went to the extent of saying anyone playing without being 100% fit is cheating the team.
He said: "I didn't discuss the subject with the particular player, medical team or selector. It is the board's decision. People might doubt my capability or capacity but someone like MS Dhoni, who has won everything and has the knowledge and sense, once said that the unfit player who is playing is cheating his team and country. I think we should accept it, and not just Tamim but every player (that you have to be fully fit when playing for the team or country)."
When pointed out that New Zealand had picked Kane Williamson in their World Cup squad despite his ACL knee injury and current recovery, Shakib said that Kiwis are clear about Williamson’s participation in the tournament. The same case was not with Tamim.
"Kane Williamson won't play the first two matches, but then he will start playing. If I knew something like this, I wouldn't have any problems. But if I know that there's uncertainty about him playing the seventh or the third or the first game, or that I will only know in the morning of the game, it will be difficult for me to select the team. I don't think we need such a player,” Shakib said.
Reports also suggested that Tamim was only fit enough to play five matches at the World Cup and though the opener has refuted them as lies, not everyone is convinced.
"I certainly heard that he will play selectively. A journalist can't tell you that he will come to the office an hour before he wants to come to the office. If you ask me personally, if I were the company CEO, I wouldn't keep that employee. Although I never had any discussion about this matter,” the Bangladesh captain added.
Shakib also revealed that many in the team asked him to let go of ODI captaincy much earlier than he did to give time to the new captain to settle down.
"I have often heard in the dressing room that he is leaving the captaincy. Even a player once told him that 'bhai, leave it early so that the new captain gets a bit of time'. Exactly that's what happened. The one who came in didn't get the time. Each and everyone knew including the selectors and board officials. Papon bhai (BCB president Nazmul Hassan) certainly knew about it.
I don't know why he didn't leave it (earlier). He can tell you. It is like, your commander takes you to war but (Shakib mimicking a soldier) after he has got you ready, the commander isn't telling you to fire or retreat. Where will you go? We were in this situation in the last two matches against Afghanistan (in July).
The captain wouldn't have changed ahead of the Asia Cup and the World Cup unless he announced that he was resigning or retiring. It would have happened 18 months ago, when everyone knew what was about to happen,” Shakib signed off.
Bangladesh team arrived in India on September 27 and will set base in Guwahati where they will play their first warmup match against Sri Lanka on September 29.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
