Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan claimed that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nazmul Hasan’s comment ignited the rift between himself and Tamim Iqbal. The national team’s two senior cricket players were reportedly at odds with each other, according to the BCB chief. Over the past year, that revelation about the two veterans became a hot topic of discussion in Bangladeshi cricket. In a documentary aired by Bongo, a leading OTT platform in Bangladesh, Shakib addressed the controversy, revealing how Hasan’s remarks created the situation.

“This thing came to focus after Papon (Nazmul Hasan) Bhai spoke about it and it created a lot of problems on the relationship and created this situation. I think some people had the intention to keep it (the rift) in focus and tried to make it as the main point (of discussion) rather than the cricketing side,” Shakib said.

Tamim has been inconsistent in the Bangladesh squad after the back injury, he was out of Asia Cup 2023 and was also not selected for the Bangladesh World Cup squad, citing a persistent back injury.

Earlier this year, Tamim posted a video on Facebook, claiming he was not selected for the squad due to growing tension between him and BCB officials instead of not being fit enough to take part in the tournament.

Speaking in a documentary, while Tamim downplayed the impact of their relationship on the team, Shakib had a different perspective. “For quite some time we were not talking a lot. [But] it is not right that we were not on talking terms. The thing is, there was a time when we used to be together all the time but that relationship was not there for quite some time,” Shakib was quoted as saying in the documentary.

“It is very natural… I got married and he got married, we were staying separately in different places and so there was very lesser time between us. We were staying in the same building in different floors [earlier] so certainly that closeness starts to diminish as people start having separate family life and over time (the relationship) changed due to our busy schedules,” he added.

Shakib emphasised that despite the distance, their professional relationship remained intact. “Later what happened is that in the field when we met, we have spoken whenever we need to talk and I don’t think we need to have a lot of conversation between us apart from that,” he said.

He also underscored that their interactions were sufficient for their roles in the team, and there was no need for extra efforts to bridge any perceived gap.

“There is nothing like making it good or bad (as far as the relationship with Tamim is concerned). Till we played together and shared the dressing room, I don’t think any incident took place that would harm the team. We tried to contribute whether we were talking or not; there was no kind of problem inside the field or in the dressing room,” Shakib asserted.

Addressing a particularly controversial interview ahead of last year’s World Cup, where he accused Tamim of being irresponsible, Shakib clarified his intentions. “I did not try to give any message through that interview as it was certainly spontaneous. I felt that before going to the World Cup, I should clear everything so that people know what actually happened and why this kind of situation is created,” he said.

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