'Had intentions to keep it...' - Shakib Al Hasan takes a dig at BCB president as he breaks silence on rift with Tamim Iqbal
Published - 13 Jun 2024, 03:54 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:13 AM
Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan recently opened up on a rift with fellow national team cricketer Tamim Iqbal. Shakib Al Hasan highlighted that Bangladesh Cricket Board president (BCB) Nazmul Hasan’s public remarks created a lot of problems in his relationship with Tamim Iqbal.
The BCB chief revealed in an interview with Cricbuzz that there was a rift between two senior players in the national team who were not communicating with each other. This revelation about the veteran cricketers has been a major topic of discussion in Bangladeshi cricket circles over the past year.
Came To Focus After Papon Bhai Spoken About It - Shakib Al Hasan
In a documentary aired on Bongo, a leading OTT platform in Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan addressed the controversy surrounding his relationship with Tamim Iqbal. Shakib mentioned how the focus on their relationship intensified after Nazmul Hasan spoke about it publicly.
"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 said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Tamim Iqbal has faced inconsistency in Bangladesh's squad due to a back injury that sidelined him from the Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup 2023 squads. Tamim claimed in a Facebook video earlier this year that his exclusion was influenced by tensions with BCB officials rather than fitness issues.
Changed Due To Our Busy Schedules - Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan mentioned that they were not completely estranged, but their closeness had diminished over time due to their personal lives and busy schedules taking precedence.
"For quite some time we were not talking a lot. [But] it is 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 is very natural... I got married and he got married, we were staying separately in different places and so there was very lesser time between us. 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," Shakib added.
The 37-year-old cricketer clarified that their professional relationship remained functional despite their personal distance. The left-arm spinner stated that they communicated as necessary on the field, stating that they didn't need to have a lot of conversation between them apart from that.
Shakib is currently representing the Bangladesh team in the T20 World Cup 2024. The left-handed batter has scored 11 runs in two innings at a dismal average of 5.50 and a strike rate of 61.11. The all-rounder also struggled with the ball as he went wicketless in the first two games at an economy rate of 9.
