Shakib tears into Tamim, says refusal to bat in middle order 'childish'
Shakib cited the example of Rohit Sharma, who started as a middle-order batter and then found massive success as an opener, and said anyone should be ready to bat in any position for the sake of the team.
Bangladesh ODI captain Shakib Al Hasan said he did not have any discussion with anyone regarding the prospect of Tamim Iqbal sitting out or batting in the middle order in their first game in the World Cup against Afghanistan.
Just hours after an emotional Tamim Iqbal revealed what went into it before the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) left him out of the World Cup squad, Shakib made some explosive remarks about the opening batter in an interview with T-Sports.
In the video message published in his official Facebook page, Tamim revealed a BCB high official asked him to bat in the middle order against Afghanistan in Bangladesh's World Cup opener. Tamim, who has been an opener since his early days, strongly denied it and to his own admission, things got a bit nasty between them.
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Shakib, though, said he was unaware of that.
"I didn't have any discussion with anyone regarding this," he said. "I don't know where it came from. But I am sure an authorised person told him that. There must have been a plan and I don't think it's a bad thing to discuss beforehand."
Shakib cited the example of Rohit Sharma, who started as a middle-order batter and then found massive success as an opener, and said anyone should be ready to bat in any position for the sake of the team.
Shakib felt Tamim should have considered batting in the middle order if there was a definite plan and said the way he rejected it was "childish".
"It's very childish [to think like that]. Team should come first. If you score 100 or 200 and your team loses, it doesn't matter. What will you do with these personal achievements? Then you are only thinking about yourself, you are not thinking about the team at all," he said.
