'Totally childish, It is my bat and I'll play' - Shakib Al Hasan launches scathing attack on Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh recently announced their 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup in India, starting on October 5, and one of the biggest developments coming out from it was the omission of veteran opener Tamim Iqbal.

The southpaw was the captain of Bangladesh during their ODI series against Afghanistan in July. However, Tamim decided to retire midway through the series before having a consultation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and taking a U-turn. During this back and forth, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to entrust Shakib Al Hasan with leadership duties for the Asia Cup 2023 and the subsequent World Cup.

Tamim and Shakib have had a tumultuous relationship in recent times. The former played in Bangladesh's recent series against New Zealand after missing the Asia Cup owing to a back injury. However, after playing the second ODI against the Kiwis, Tamim mentioned that he is still feeling the effect of the back injury, and it could be difficult for him to feature in all the matches in the World Cup.

Shakib did not want to take the risk of taking a half-fit player in his side for the marquee event, and hence, the former captain was dropped. After the exclusion, the 34-year-old wrote on Facebook that a top board official asked him to bat down the order, and it was one of the many problems created on his path to selection. Shakib responded to this, stating that a cricketer needs to play for the team and not for individual records. 

"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 the Dhaka-based TV channel T-Sports in an interview that was aired on Wednesday night.

"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?" Shakib added.