ODI World Cup 2023: Shakib Al Hasan likely to miss Bangladesh's opening encounter against Afghanistan

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has suffered an injury which is likely to rule him out of the two warm-up games against Sri Lanka and England ahead of the main round of ODI World Cup 2023. As per reports, the veteran all-rounder may even miss Bangladesh's opening clash against Afghanistan at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on October 7.

Notably, the cricketer has suffered a foot injury during a practice session and that might force him to miss cricket for at least ten days. He is still in contention to be fit before the match against Afghanistan but it is unlikely that Bangaldesh would want to risk him early on in the tournament.

In the absence of Shakib, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is leading the Bangladesh team in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka. During the toss, the 25-year-old clarified that many of the cricketers are given rest in the warm-up games as the focus remains to manage the workload.

Shakib-Tamim episode grabs spotlight ahead of World Cup

Meanwhile, the controversy between Shakib and Tamim Iqbal is far from over. The veteran opener was excluded from Bangladesh's World Cup squad and blamed the BCB for playing "dirty games".

"A top-level official of the board who is involved with our cricket called me and told me that you will go to World Cup and we have to make you play by managing [your fitness]," Tamim said on his official Facebook page on September 27.

"He told, 'do one thing, you don't play the opening game against Afghanistan'. I told him look there is still 10 to 12 days and in 12-13 days I will be in good state so why I should not be playing?. Then he said, 'if you play, we are planning to send you down the order,'" he added.

"I am playing in the same position for last 17 years and I never batted at three or four. If I was batting at three or four and later my batting position was changed up and down, in that case it could be adjusted. But I don't have any experience batting at three and four position. I was feeling that I am forced in lot of areas willingly, like it is going well let's do something new [to irritate him]," he further added.

Later, Shakib launched a scathing attack on Tamim, terming him "childish". The all-rounder cited the example of Rohit Sharma and mentioned that the cricketers need to be flexible as per the team's needs.

"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 a 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 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.