The Bangladesh cricket team left for India’s Guwahati on Wednesday in order to compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup. They are aiming to put behind them the drama that has been taking place at home as a result of the withdrawal of experienced opener Tamim Iqbal from the India-bound squad.
A midnight meeting between coach Chandika Hathurusingha, captain Shakib Al Hasan, and BCB president Nazmul Hassan added further conjecture to an already hyped-up environment. The fact that the BCB was late in releasing the World Cup roster contributed to the drama, in fact it provided more place for it.
On the exact same day that the World Cup roster was announced, a source close to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) revealed to The Daily Star on Tuesday morning that Shakib had informed the board that he would not lead the side in the World Cup if there were any unfit players in the squad.
After the team was announced, which included the omission of Tamim, there was a lot of criticism that followed. In addition, the squad left for India in the heels of a home series defeat to New Zealand that they suffered by a score of 2-0.
Before the team departed for India, the director of the team, Khaled Mahmud, addressed the media and said that what had happened the previous day needed to be forgotten about.
“The squad is leaving today, and I have no doubt that the lads will have a positive attitude. We are aware that our performance in the series against New Zealand has not been very good, and a large number of key players on both teams were not involved. “But the World Cup is an entirely different stage, and we are getting some time ahead of the World Cup, and we have two practise matches to sort ourselves out [before the tournament],” Mahmud said to the press at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
“What has taken place, there is nothing that can be done to change it at this point. We have no choice except to look forward to tomorrow, and that is the hope that we are clinging to,” he remarked.
“I get the impression that the dream is most definitely still alive in the sights of these 15 [members of the team]. It is essential to turn that dream become a reality. Because of this, everyone, including the support personnel, in addition to the cricket players, has to be linked together under a single thread, as Mahmud explained further.
Mahmud advised everyone on the team to maintain their confidence in the younger players, such as Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who were a part of the squad.
“Many people are going to remark that the younger guys are going; these boys may be young, but they are talented, and because of this, they are going there. “We have no choice but to believe that these 15 cricketers who were chosen did so because they are the very best,” he said.
Before travelling to Dharamshala for their first encounter of the tournament against Afghanistan on September 29, Bangladesh will play two warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and England. These matches will take place on September 29 and October 2, respectively.