Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan has brushed off any rift between ODI captain Tamim Iqbal and T20I captain Mahmudullah.
According to media reports, relation between Tamim and Mahmudullah went downhill recently after the latter showed less interest in naming the former in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
This revelation was a follow-up to Tamim’s decision to opt out from the world event.
Opening batsman Tamim earlier this month decided to skip the tournament citing under-preparation due to long-term knee injury, and said he did not want to take the place of openers who have been playing in the format more regularly than him in recent times.
But as it happened, media reports soon revealed that Tamim’s decision alongside the facts which he stated were driven by emotion.
It is understood that when Tamim’s name was put on the table in one of the selection meetings, questions were raised regarding the process, and head coach Russell Domingo emphasized that a junior player will have to pave way had Tamim got included in the T20 World Cup squad.
Tamim had also learnt that T20I skipper Mahmudullah was silent when this discussion was put on the table and thus has been upset since.
“First thing is I am not being able to go close to the team due to the bio-secured bubble. But still my finding is there is no issue at all between them [Tamim and Mahmudullah]. Jalal bhai [BCB director Jalal Younus] was part of the team [in New Zealand], then we had Bobby bhai [BCB director Ahmed Sajjadul Alam] as part of the team [in Zimbabwe], they did not see any issues. So I do not see any reason to comment on this,” said Nazmul to the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Friday.
It is understood that the BCB delayed the announcement of the squad by at least two days as they looked for ways to move Tamim from his stance.
It was being speculated that even BCB boss Nazmul had called Tamim in the hope of changing the decision.
“Nothing such happened [telling Tamim to review his decision]. It is wrong information. This isn’t supposed to happen. Tamim took his decision after speaking to me so there is no reason for asking him to reconsider the decision,” Nazmul explained.
Bangladesh are set to travel to Oman in early October for the T20 World Cup and will first have to play the qualifiers before entering the main event if they can finish first or the second in the group.
Bangladesh in the first phase of the competition have been slotted in Group B with Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.
In Group A Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia and Sri Lanka will fight it out.
The groups were selected on the basis of team rankings as of March 20, 2021.
