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'It Might Have Affected The Team': Shakib Admits Rift With Tamim May Have Affected Bangladesh

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Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan finally admitted his much-publicised rift with stalwart opener Tamim Iqbal has had a negative impact on his troops at the ICC World Cup 2023. 

As a painstaking defeat at the hands of the spirited Netherlands on Saturday (October 28) put Bangladesh realistically out of the semifinal contention, the captain accepted he could've found a better way to deal with the Tamim clash.  

Shakib exhibited inexperience and insufficient understanding of subcontinent media in publicly speaking about his problems with Tamim's attitude, accusing him of not accepting the team management's wish to shuffle his longstanding spot at the top of the order and creating uncertainty about his involvement. 

The 36-year-old's interview with a Bangladesh site created a massive furore on social media as Tamim was axed out of the World Cup squad and fans wondered if the controversy could've been confined to the backroom discussions.

Shakib Admits Tamim Feud Affected Bangladesh 

Speaking at the post-match press conference after Bangladesh crashed out of the knock-outs race with a horrible 87-run loss to the Dutch in Kolkata, Shakib admitted his verbal spat with senior pro Tamim created a distraction for the youngsters part of the squad and that the controversy could've been avoided with better communication. 

"It might have affected the team. It’s not unusual. You don’t know what an individual has in his mind but I am not disagreeing with the fact that (the controversy) might have affected us," the Bangladesh skipper said. 

"You can say that (this is Bangladesh’s worst ever World Cup campaign) and I wouldn’t say otherwise. We were pretty underprepared coming into this tournament but we can’t use that as an excuse," he added. 

The lack of stability in the mind and technical deficiencies on a seaming Kolkata surface hurt Bangladesh the worst way. They collapsed to 142 all out in a chase of 230 against a skillful and spirited Netherlands outfit, having previously also collapsed without a rounded effort in the competition with just a solitary win in six games. 

"We have been poor with the bat all tournament and this is as bad as it gets. There is more cricket to come and we have to pick ourselves up and I know it’s hard but we have to try to finish the tournament on a high. Throughout the tournament, we have been struggling, I don’t know what’s on the players’ minds," Shakib said.