ICC World Cup 2023: Bangladesh management failed to handle Tamim Iqbal, says former captain

Bangladesh are not having the best of ICC World Cup 2023 as the side lost three matches on the go after winning the opening encounter against Afghanistan. Their latest defeat to India exposed their middle-order fallacies, especially in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan.

However, the problem runs deep in Bangladesh cricket, who have struggled to utilise the home-like sub-continental conditions so far, which started with months of chaos that saw Tamim Iqbal announcing abrupt retirement, before revoking the decision afer intervention from the government. However, the opener was ultimately left out of the squad for the ICC World Cup 2023.

Mohammad Ashraful, who played 13 Tests and 38 ODIs for Bangladesh, felt the Bangladesh management has made a hash of the situation and has come back to hit their semifinal ambitions.

"Many had expected Bangladesh to qualify for the semifinal. But we now see that the reality is quite different. Actually, the three-month chaos leading up to the World Cup unsettled the team," Ashraful told The Daily Star.

He further added that Tamim Iqbal is a cricketer driven by emotion and requires word of encouragement every now and then, something the Bangladesh Cricket Board has failed to do.

"Tamim has always been over-emotional. I remember, Tamim didn't want to play in the Test against England at Lord's in 2010 because he had a niggle or something like that. Coach Jamie Siddons put his arms over Tamim's shoulders and convinced him to play. After that, he scored back-to-back centuries in the two Tests," Ashraful said.

"Even Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] handled Tamim well and got the best out of him. But the current management completely failed to handle Tamim, which led to all this drama," he added.

Bangladesh next play South Africa on October 24 (Tuesday) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with question mark over availability for the crucial cnoner