DHAKA, Sept 27, 2023 (BSS)- Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon
emphasized on keeping faith on the World Cup (WC) squad, forgetting what
happened in the country over the last two days.

He indeed indicated the incident of Tamim Iqbal, who was left out of the
World Cup squad due to injury concern. His exclusion sparked some debate as
the country's cricket fraternity sharply divided by two groups. One group
favoured Tamim for his honesty of not hiding the injury while other group
criticized him, saying that he disrupted the team's balance.

"It's high time to look forward as we are going to play the World Cup,"
Mahmud said while Bangladesh left the country for Guwahati to take part in
the ICC Cricket World Cup in India.

"What happened, has happened. There is no point in being engrossed by it. We
must focus on tomorrow rather thinking about the past."
 
The fans also dragged skipper Shakib Al Hasan into the matter as the relation
between him and Tamim has not been cordial enough for long days.

However, the selection panel, led by Minhajul Abdein Nannu, made it clear
that Tamim was not included, purely due to injury concern and he never told
anyone that he would play five or six matches or something else. The
selectors said rather Tamim made it clear that the injury could be back
anytime and so they didn't want to take risk with him.

Mahmud also said that Tamim revealed about his pain to him, saying that if he
plays, he would play by managing it.

"During the BPL Players' draft, Tamim told me that he has pain and said if he
plays, he should play by managing it. And he also said he would let the team
management and board know about his condition," Mahmud said.

Mahmud, the former Bangladesh captain, requested everyone to keep faith on
the team, forgetting the Tamim episode.

"Obviously Tamim is one of the finest cricketer of the country has ever
produced. But, I request everyone to keep faith in this team. It is our World
Cup team and formed with the blend of youth and experience," he said.

"We have a dream and we have to materialize it. I believe everybody will try
their best to uplift the image of the country."

The Tigers will play two warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and England on
September 29 and October 2, respectively, in Guwahati before their World Cup
opener against Afghanistan on October 7.

According to Mahmud, these two warm-up matches will help the side gel
together well before the opening game.

"These two matches are important for us. It will help us to tune up well. We
hope we'll play well in those two matches to give the boost for the World Cup
opener."