While there were already reports that suggested that Bangladesh could go into the World Cup without Tamim Iqbal, the same was confirmed when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) annnounced their squad for the marquee event set to commence on October 5 in India. It is being reported that Tamil had informed the selectors 15 days ago to keep in mind his back injury before selecting final squad and the decision has been taken in view of the larger interest of the team since has had a recurring back problem.
No official reason for Tamim's exclusion has yet been provided by the BCB. There were speculation that there could be a few last-minute changes after the Board said that the announcement will be delayed by a few hours but no such changes were incorporated eventually. It is pertinent to note that Tamim had shockingly made a decision to retire from international cricket a decision from which he took a U-turn after a meeting with the Prime Minister.
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However, Shakib Al Hasan was made the captain of the side. Tamim scored 44 runs in his comeback match but what followed was yet another injury layoff which ruled him out of the entire Asia Cup and now even the World Cup. There were reports in Bangladesh media suggested that Shakib was not in favour of having a team full of half-fit players and had threatened to skip the ICC tournament in case Tamim was included.
But as it turns out, Bangladesh have Shakin to lead them in the World Cup with no Tamim, arguable the country's finest batters in ODI cricket missing out.
Bangladesh ODI World Cup squad:
Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (vice-captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzid Hasan, Tanzim Hasan, Mahmudullah