(AFP Photo)
Following Bangladesh’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, a fresh controversy has emerged involving paceman Tamim Iqbal. Meanwhile, Team India clinched the championship, with Jasprit Bumrah awarded Player of the Tournament for his 15 wickets, and Virat Kohli honored as Man of the Match in the final for his 76 runs. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also retired from T20I cricket following India’s victory.
In another development, Bangladesh’s T20I vice-captain Taskin Ahmed issued apologies to his teammates after missing the crucial Super 8 match against India, which ultimately led to Bangladesh’s defeat. Sources from the BCCI, speaking anonymously to Cricbuzz, confirmed Taskin’s absence was due to oversleeping and missing the team bus. This incident raised concerns about Taskin’s commitment to the national team and the adequacy of his explanation for missing such a pivotal match.
According to Cricbuzz, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) took steps to ensure such incidents do not recur, including stationing an official at the team hotel after Taskin initially failed to respond to calls. There have been speculations about disagreements involving Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha regarding Taskin’s selection for the XI, though a BCB official has provided a differing perspective on the matter.
“It is true that he (Taskin) joined the team later after missing the team bus. But why he did not play only the coach can say because whether he was in the plan or not (against India) is something that can be answered by the head coach (Chandika Hathurusingha)” said the official on Monday.
“If there was any issue (between coach and the player) how he played the next game against Afghanistan. He apologized to his teammates and everyone for not being able to get up on time and that’s it and no need to make an issue out of it,” the BCB official further added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha has chosen not to comment on the issue, opting instead to concentrate on the current situation and analyzing the factors contributing to Bangladesh’s departure from the tournament.
During the group stage, Bangladesh secured victories against Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Netherlands, although they suffered a defeat against South Africa. Advancing to the Super 8s, they faced losses against Australia, India, and Afghanistan. Notably, Bangladesh’s loss to Afghanistan resulted in Australia being eliminated from the tournament, while India and Afghanistan progressed to the semifinals from Group 1.
Taskin Ahmed has attributed Bangladesh’s early exit from the T20 World Cup to the team’s batting performance, expressing criticism towards the batters. He highlighted their inability to withstand the pressure exerted by teams such as Australia and South Africa. Particularly disappointing was Bangladesh’s defeat to Afghanistan, where they were dismissed for just 105 runs in pursuit of a target of 116.
“I haven’t seen such a long bad patch for the batters in my 10 years playing for Bangladesh. I hope it goes away quickly. We never had great numbers in T20s. We are improving slowly” said Taskin.
