T20 World Cup
Tamim surprised with Naim's exclusion
|| CF DESK ||
Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal was surprised not to see Mohammad Naim open in their T20 World Cup opener against Scotland on Sunday.
Tamim opted out of the World cup campaign to provide opportunities for others like Liton Das, Naim and Soumya Sarkar. Naim, who played regularly in absence of Tamim in the Australia and New Zealand series was dropped from the XI against Scotland.
Soumya got the opportunity to bat instead of the young batter but Tamim was surprised to see the change in the line up.
“I was a bit surprised that Naim did not play. He was kept as the key opener by the team management before going to the World Cup. If one player didn't score in one or two warm-up games, you can’t drop him from the XI, I was a little surprised,” said Tamim in the Nagad present the Tamim Iqbal show which was broadcast by Cricfrenzy and Ekattor TV.
The opener further said that he doesn't want to point the finger at anyone for the decision, and said that it might have been part of the captain and team management's strategy.
“But I also make such decisions. Everyone has different perspective. I'm sure the captain and team management did it for some reason. Naim has probably been left out as Soumya can offer bowling option for the team,” he added.