Tamim Iqbal, the captain of Bangladesh’s one-day international team, arrived in the United Kingdom on Monday.
While there, the southpaw is set to undergo two medical evaluations. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will be eagerly awaiting the results of these evaluations.
It is expected that the BCB will make an announcement on the preliminary team for the next Asia Cup within the next few days. The training camp is slated to begin on the 30th of July.
However, despite not having Tamim as their ODI captain, the Tigers will begin their preparations. Given that there are two significant competitions coming up, the Asia Cup and the World Cup, the formation of the team’s game plan will be greatly influenced by the sort of information that is sent from the United Kingdom.
The Tigers were undoubtedly shaken up when Captain Tamim announced his retirement in the midst of an ongoing series earlier this month. As a result, they fell to Afghanistan in a bilateral ODI series for the very first time.
The opener’s fitness troubles and injury worries have put questions on his comeback to the squad, despite the fact that the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Nazmul Hassan Papon, has assured that Tamim would remain the captain after his sabbatical from the team.
Papon announced to the press on Monday that Tamim will be leading our team in the World Cup.”In the latter two matches [against Afghanistan], Liton [Das] led the squad in place of Tamim, who was unavailable for those contests. Now, if Tamim returns, he will take over leadership of the squad; if he does not, however, another player will step into that role. We do not have any information on his comeback, including which match he will be able to participate in or when that match will take place. Because I do not have any information [regarding Tamim’s return], I will not make any remarks. However, it is our hope that he will make a speedy and complete recovery so that he may rejoin us as soon as possible,” he said.
Due to the fact that Tamim is now undergoing treatment, there has been very little contact between the captain and the administration of the squad about the strategy for the future. Because of this, the Tigers’ whole process of getting ready has been made more difficult.
Because Tamim is now abroad receiving treatment, we have had very little opportunity to discuss the future plans of the team with him. In point of fact, we have had almost no discussion with him at all. A source close to the BCB who spoke on the condition of anonymity stated that the individual in question will return to the nation and then meet with authorities from the board.
It is now abundantly evident that the management of the squad does not want to continue to remain in cloudy waters.
“We place a great deal of importance on this Asia Cup. Whatever strategy we come up with for the Asia Cup will, for all intents and purposes, be the same one that we use for the forthcoming World Cup. For this reason, it would be beneficial for both Tamim and the team if we were able to receive a clear image on the situation with Tamim. There is no one item that can top Tamim’s return to the team in top physical condition. However, nothing should be done to delay the preparation process so that the management of the squad can come to a decision regarding how the team should approach the World Cup, the BCB source noted.
There are a few open slots in Bangladesh’s best eleven that need to be filled. Afif Hossain has lately been given the opportunity to fill one of these positions, which is the number seven place.
Veteran Mahmudullah Riyad is also a possibility for the 30-person team, and the news of his possible incorporation into the group is certain to generate a significant amount of discussion.
However, similar to the situation with Tamim, Bangladesh has been left in a state of considerable uncertainty and is now adrift on a sailboat awaiting the arrival of its leader.