Aakash Chopra Calls Bangladesh Cricket, A 'Soap Opera' Amidst Tamim Iqbal-Shakib Al Hasan Controversy

After the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced their squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, a massive controversy erupted over the exclusion of Tamim Iqbal from the team.

The Bangladesh Cricket selectors left out Tamim stating that he had not fully recovered from his back injury whereas Tamim clarified that he was fit enough to travel to India for the World Cup. Tamim Iqbal stated that a senior BCB official asked him to bat in the lower middle order to which the batter replied ‘No’.

Shakib Al Hasan lashed out at Tamim in an interview stating that he is being selfish for not agreeing to change his batting position for the sake of the team.

Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza slammed the BCB and Shakib for not handling the Tamim situation well, Mortaza feels that Shakib could’ve at least given a call to Tamim stating his plans for him for the World Cup.

Tamim Iqbal announced his retirement but changed his mind after being personally approached by the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who requested him to play in the World Cup. Bangladesh Cricket however had some other plans it seems because Tamim Iqbal can’t be seen anywhere in the World Cup squad.

Aakash Chopra Talks About The Rift In Bangladesh Cricket

“The Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Bangladesh cricket controversy is something different. Bangladesh cricket is a story in itself. It’s like a soap opera. One player says he won’t play, then he meets the prime minister. After he meets the PM, he says, okay I will do it for the country. But then again he says he won’t play.”

“The captain comes in and says he should bat down the order, the player says he won’t. What is happening, honestly? These two are really senior players. Earlier, I had heard that they were very good friends, but that doesn’t seem the case now,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel

Bangladesh will kick off their World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on 6th October but before that, they have two warm-up games against Sri Lanka and England respectively. Without Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh will miss out on an experienced batter up the order. It has been a difficult time for Bangladesh Cricket and they will have their fingers crossed for a good World Cup campaign.