Dhaka, Bangladesh
Contrary to what the narrative was in the media as to why veteran Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal got dropped from the World Cup squad, with BCB officials claiming back injury to be the reason, Tamim, in his latest video uploaded on his Facebook page, revealed what went behind the scene, prompting him to request the selectors to drop him in the first place.
Though Tamim admits to feeling discomfort in his troubled back despite returning to the side for the New Zealand series (having played only one ODI – 2nd game), the left-handed batter revealed following a closed-door discussion with one of the top BCB officials that things fell apart between them.
Tamim said the official informed him that they were thinking of taking him to the World Cup (even knowing about his fitness) and asked him to play while managing his injury and workload. Tamim added the official said should he get picked in the first place, the Bangladesh batter should either sit out of the opener against Afghanistan or bat in the middle order, something he has never done on the international stage.
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"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 in the video posted on his Facebook page.
“He said, 'do one thing, you don't play the opening game against Afghanistan'. I told him, look there are still 10 to 12 days and in 12-13 days I will be in a good state so why I should not be playing? Then he said, 'If you play, we are planning to send you down the order.'”
"You have to understand I'm coming from which mindset. I played a good innings after a while (against New Zealand), and I was happy about it. But all of a sudden these kinds of words were not something that I could take," Tamim added.
‘I felt I was forced...’
Tamim said he expressed displeasure over this thought process, which made him uncomfortable on many grounds. The unclarity in the scheme of things in the lead-up to the World Cup caused unrest during the conversation, after which Tamim requested all parties concerned to keep him out of the World Cup.
"I am playing in the same position for the 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. Certainly, I did not take it well. I was feeling that I am forced in a lot of areas willingly, like it is going well let's do something new [to irritate him]. That is what I was feeling."
"At that point, I said that if you are thinking like this then don't send me because I don't want to be part of this dirty game. Later, I spoke a lot with him that I don't want to disclose on this platform, and I want it to remain between the two of us. Still, I told him that if these things happen don't keep me because I don't want to be part of these dirty things," Tamim added.
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