Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza feels that everyone may come up with different stories regarding the omission of Tamim Iqbal from Bangladesh’s ODI World Cup squad. He feels that it would be better if the opener came up with an explanation regarding the matter.
There have been reports that Bangladesh cricket’s situation has taken a drastic turn involving Tamim Iqbal and skipper Shakib Al Hasan. The Bangladesh opener made it obvious that the team management would have to accept him as a partially fit player if they wanted to put him in the World Cup squad.
Speaking to the media, Mashrafe Mortaza said that the information coming out from different sources may be wrong and feels that the Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has opted not to be part of the squad for the World Cup and reckons that he deserves the respect for his contribution to the Bangladesh cricket.
“Everyone may provide one piece of wrong information. Tamim dropped, actually the truth is Tamim did not want to stay in the team. There is a huge difference between keeping someone out of the team and opting not to be in the team. I think Tamim deserves this minimum respect.
“Now there would be the question as to why Tamim was not interested to be in the team. I have no answer to this question. Only Tamim can say this. Maybe he will say it someday, then we can understand,” Mashrafe Mortaza said.
The southpaw has been a stalwart of the team since 2007, playing an important role in their team’s win and the veteran is also the leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in International cricket. The left-handed opener has played 243 ODIs in his career, scoring 8357 runs at an average of 36.65. and could be a crucial miss for the team heading into the ODI World Cup in India.
Bangladesh has emerged as one of the better white ball teams in world cricket. They will look to utilize their experience to do well in the sub-continental conditions in India.
Bangladesh’s World Cup 2023 squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehidy Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.
