‘It is not the right time to fight within the team’ – Fans react as Shakib Al Hasan fires at Tamim Iqbal over batting position

Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan have recently been caught in a war of words as they argued about the batting positions in the team. Notably, Tamim Iqbal had been previously excluded from the Bangladesh squad for the Asia Cup due to an injury, and later from the ODI, World Cup squad as well despite receiving a positive feedback from the physio. However, the batting position offered to him by the board did not sit well with Tamim. 

Tamim has been a top order batsmen for the team for over a decade, and had now been offered to bat at the lower order, which did not sit right with the batsman. The team’s captain Shakib Al Hasan gave him a befitting reply by giving examples of successful players like Rohit Sharma, who have made their way from the bottom to the top while batting at multiple positions. 

Tamim Iqbal posted a video on his social media account while talking about his exclusion from the team for the ODI World Cup, 2023, he said, “Someone called me from the top level of the board and said that if you play you have to bat down the order. After hearing this I am shocked as I have never in my 17-year career batted down the order.”

Shakib Al Hasan on Tamim Iqbal’s statement

“I am sure someone who is authorized had said this (to Tamim). 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? Or we can’t make such a proposal? I am just going to tell someone that you can do whatever you want. Is the team first or the individual?”, he said. 

While giving an example of the Indian cricket team captain, Shakib said, “Someone like Rohit Sharma built his career from No. 7 to opener, scored 10,000-plus runs. If he sometimes bats at No 3 or 4, would it be a big problem? 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. Team first. It doesn’t make any difference if you have made 100 or 200, and the team loses. What can you do with personal achievement? You want to make a name for yourself?”

“You are not thinking about the team at all. People don’t understand these things. Why was the proposal given to him? It was for the team. What is wrong in that? You are a team man when you agree to such a proposal. Unless you are thinking along those lines, you are not a team man. You are playing for individual records, success, fame, and name. Not for the team,” added Shakib Al Hasan. 

Look how the fans reacted – 

https://twitter.com/sarkarspeaking/status/1707295324652650791?s=46

Shakib has made the decision even though it was very tough one.

— Vikram Nayak (@allsportjacks) September 28, 2023

https://twitter.com/xh_sahib/status/1707304777435033853?s=46

They started fighting with each other when they should be focusing on playing the Cricket World Cup

— Shan Jarral (@shandoescricket) September 28, 2023

https://twitter.com/mesounab/status/1707293327387947404?s=46

Seniors are fighting: very Bad for Bangladesh

— Mr.Naruto (@MrNarutoHokage) September 28, 2023

Forget about performance if you have that sort of attitude you can’t win tournaments.

— Ajay (@ajay_aj_25) September 28, 2023

Don't agree with Shakib. Rohit was always a top oder player from u19.Sachin , Sehwagh aur GG ke hotey fit nhi rha tha. Aur bad main MS ne usko pora time diya. Tab ja kar 10k rune kiye.Tamim ko career end pe bol rhe middle main khelo. Buht faraq hai 2no main

— MUBARAK_KHAN (@mubaraak_khan) September 28, 2023