Last Update: February 27, 2023, 09:48 IST
‘All is well’ between Tamim and Shakib
“I think everything is very normal,” Tamim Iqbal told reporters at a press conference in Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s one-day international captain Tamim Iqbal on Sunday denied that there is any rift in the team and that his relationship with premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is “very normal”.
“The atmosphere in our team has been good for many years. A happy dressing room allows you to get the kind of results you are looking for,” Tamim told reporters at a press conference in Dhaka.
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“I think everything is very normal.”
The top-order batsman’s comments came after Bangladesh Cricket Board chairman Nazmul Hasan told Cricbuzz that the atmosphere in the dressing room was not “healthy”.
“The biggest problem for Bangladesh cricket at the moment is the grouping, and that is the reality. I have no problem with anything else,” Najmul told the website.
The BCB chief said that he had tried to resolve a factional dispute between Shakib and Tamim but it turned out to be difficult.
“It is not that I have not tried to resolve it. I have spoken with both of them and I felt that it is not easy to resolve the issues at this point of time.”
Tamim and Shakib have been teammates since their early days in the mid-2000s and are at times considered close friends.
Tamim captains the Bangladesh ODI team, while Shakib heads the Test and Twenty20 International teams.
Tamim said that the performance on the pitch matters.
“The important thing when Shakib and I wore the Bangladesh jersey was whether we were giving our best and whether we were helping each other. When we are leading the teams, nothing else matters,” he said at the media briefing ahead of the three-match ODI series against England.
“It doesn’t matter what anyone is saying, whether we have coffee together.”
Tamim will lead Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series against England next week and said he expected to play on “real wickets” – although the hosts usually visit low and slow pitches, especially from outside the subcontinent.
“We are discussing playing better on real wickets. You will see a reflection of our thinking,” he said.
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“It is a step forward. We are expecting mostly batting friendly wickets World cup.”
The tour will begin with two ODIs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday and Friday, before the third and final match at the Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on 6 March.
Chittagong will then host the first Twenty20 International on March 9, after which the teams will return to the capital for the remaining two matches on March 12 and 14.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)