Nazmul Hassan Papon, president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), reiterated his board’s stance to keep Tamim Iqbal as Captain of the team in the upcoming World Cup.
Tamim’s retirement issue and then the reversal of the decision following the meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the talk of the town some days ago.
He thereafter took six-week rest but the issue remains in the table as of now. There was doubt whether he would be the captain when he would return to the side. Rumours were rife that the BCB is willing to give Shakib Al Hasan the captaincy in ODI format too, a thing which Tamim came to know from various sources. It was another reason that prompted him to announce the pre-mature retirement.
But Papon cleared the air on Sunday regarding the captaincy while talking to the reporters in a local hotel in the city.
“I will tell you one simple thing: Tamim will be our captain in the World Cup. There’s no doubt in it,” Papon said.
“Since Tamim didn’t play the last two matches against Afghanistan, Liton Das led the side. Now, if Tamim returns to the team, he will lead the side. If he doesn’t come, we’ll choose another one. We still are not sure when he will be back.”
It is learnt Tamim’s back injury needed an operation to be healed properly but he would have to be sidelined for four to six months, meaning his World Cup participation will be left in limbo.
Tamim of late raised a sensitive issue while giving interview in two media outlets.
He questioned the exercise he was given in the gym session which he though contributed in the return of his back pain.
“While doing an exercise in the gym session, it came back again. So shouldn’t the question be raised, was that exercise right or wrong for me? Why was I doing the exercise that I am not supposed to do? Exercises that shouldn’t cause problems with this injury, why weren't they done? This reason should also be found out,” Tamim said.
When asked, Papon also raised a question: “That means, do they, who gave him the exercise, want to harm him?”
“I don’t want to comment on that. Because I don’t know why he said this, under what circumstances he said it. For two years, we are doing whatever he wants, at home and abroad for treatment, whatever he says. We haven’t heard of anything else before. Now he is saying that he has to give injections or surgery. Fine, we’ll do whatever it takes. We are willing to do whatever it takes to heal him. There is no doubt about this. But, I don’t know why he made this comment.”
Papon also talked about the return of Mahmudullah Riyad, saying that he had no idea whether the allrounder could make his way to the team.
"I have no idea honestly. He didn't play the last series. He was out of the team. The management could say whether he did enough to force his way back to the side."
