Before the World Cup, Shakib Al Hasan launched a
vicious attack on Tamim Iqbal, labelling him “childish” and slamming
him for putting his demands ahead of those of the team.
Tamim had struggled with a nagging back problem while
playing for Bangladesh; on Tuesday, this injury was given as the cause for
Tamim’s removal from the World Cup team. But earlier today, Tamim said on
Facebook that he would have been in good enough shape to compete in the event
and that he would not be going to India because he was tired of the BCB
blocking his trip. One of them, according to him, was a senior board member
requesting that he reject the directive.
“I am sure someone who is authorized had said
this (to Tamim),” Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, told the Dhaka-based TV
channel T-Sports in an interview that was aired on Wednesday night. “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?”
In a sustained and unsparing critique, Shakib said
Tamim was being selfish in not thinking of the team.
“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 totally 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?
“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 in 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 stated that he didn’t want to take a player
whose fitness was in doubt to the World Cup and even went so far as to declare
that anyone participating who wasn’t 100 percent fit was betraying the team.
Similar worries are shared by other teams. For example, New Zealand chose
captain Kane Williamson for the World Cup even though he wasn’t fully recovered
from an ACL injury. But the degree of his involvement has already been made
clear, and Tamim’s uncertain involvement seems to be a sticking issue.
“Kane Williamson won’t play the first two
matches, but then he will start playing,” Shakib said. “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.”