ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Tamim Iqbal is 'Childish,' not 'team man,' says Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan accuses Tamim Iqbal of childish behaviour ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

We are not far away from the start of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. This 13th edition of World Cup will begin with an opening game between England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5. The top ten teams will be taking part in the marquee event. All participating nations have announced their final squads for the coming World Cup event.

Bangladesh were the last nation to reveal their squads for the coming tournament. They announced their squads a couple of days ago. Notably, there were some rumours of a rift between Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal before the squad announcement. Eventually, it came true as the Tamim was later dropped from the squad, which came as a surprise to many. And now Shakib Al Hasan has opened up about it.

"It is totally childish"- Shakib Al Hasan on Tamim Iqbal

Notably, after Tamim got dropped from the team, he hit back at the BCB. On Wednesday, he accused the board of dirty politics and took to Facebook to confirm that he was not dropped due to fitness and was completely fit enough to play. He also claimed that BCB officials asked him to bat in the middle, which was something he was not looking for.

Shakib Al Hasan opened up on these claims and said that if someone asked him to do something for the team's combination, then there is nothing wrong with it. In an interview on T Sports, Shakib said, "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? I am just going to tell someone that you can do whatever you want. Is the team first or the individual? 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."

Bangladeshi captain gave the example of Rohit Sharma, who started his career at No. 7 and later opened the innings, became successful, and still bats in the middle-order when required. Shakib also slammed Tamim for not thinking about teamwork and said that he is not a team-man. He said, "You are not a team man. You are playing for individual records, success, fame, and names. Not for the team." Furthermore, Shakib also said that he didn't want to carry a player who was not completely fit. Tamim has been carrying a back injury, which was the reason he didn't play in Asia Cup 2023.