In a fresh development, Bangladesh's star all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, addressed the long-discussed rift between himself and Tamim Iqbal, following widespread rumours of a fallout between the two cricketers over the past year. In the last week of February, the head of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Nazmul Hasan, affirmed that the two senior cricketers of the national team were alienated and not engaging in dialogue.
While Tamim asserted that his rapport with Shakib had no impact on team dynamics, Shakib diverged from this viewpoint before addressing the controversy in a documentary aired by Bongo, a prominent OTT platform in Bangladesh. Shakib claimed that Nazmul exacerbated the already-tense relationship between himself and Tamim, worsening the situation rather than seeking resolution. Shakib also suggested that certain parties or stakeholders may have intentionally highlighted the rift between him and Tamim to divert attention from broader issues plaguing Bangladesh cricket.
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"This thing [the relationship between Tamim and Shakib] came to focus after Papon [Nazmul Hasan] bhai spoke about it and it created a lot of problem on the relationship and created this situation. I think some people had the intention to keep it [the rift] in focus and tried to make it as the main point [of discussion] rather than the cricketing side," Shakib was quoted as saying in the documentary broadcasted by Bongo.
According to Cricbuzz, Shakib expressed that although there was a period during which he and Tamim were not communicating, it was inaccurate to suggest they were completely estranged. He mentioned that they had previously spent considerable time together but that external factors such as marriage and living arrangements with their respective partners gradually caused their relationship to drift, which Shakib considered to be a natural progression. He noted they had been close friends when residing on different floors of the same building, but their busy family schedules led their friendship to wane over time.
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"For quite some time, we were not talking a lot. [But] it's not right that we were not on talking terms. The thing is, there was a time when we used to be together all the time but that relationship was not there for quite some time. It's very natural. Both of us got married, we were staying separately in different places and so, there was very less time between us," added Shakib.
"We were staying in the same building in different floors [earlier] so certainly, that closeness starts to diminish as people start having separate family life and over time [the relationship] changed due to our busy schedules. Later what happened is that on the field, when we met, we have spoken whenever we need to talk and I don't think we need to have lot of conversation between us apart from that," shared Shakib further.
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