'Tamim saga, floating batting order behind Bangladesh's World Cup flop'

Bangladesh finished third in the ICC ODI World Cup Super League in the previous cycle and many expected them to emulate that performance in the mega event in India. But they failed to live up to the expectations and according to their captain Shakib Al Hasan, this has been the "worst" World Cup campaign for Bangladesh in recent memory. 

Their ambition now has been reduced to sealing a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy and that too will depend on a lot of other results. But what are the reasons behind Bangladesh's World Cup debacle?

According to renowned cricket coach Sarwar Imran, the Tamim Iqbal retirement saga and too much shuffling in the batting order are behind their dismal performance. Imran, who was Bangladesh's coach in their debut Test match in 2000, spoke to The Business Standard (TBS) at length about Bangladesh's flop 2023 World Cup campaign. 

How Bangladesh have fared
"We've never won four matches in a World Cup. This time, we had the expectation. Apart from the first game and the last game [against Sri Lanka], we didn't play well. In the last four World Cups, Bangladesh have won three matches each. This year, we have won two and it's difficult to beat Australia. So, it's a demotion. This World Cup has been a bitter experience."

Reasons behind the failure 
"Tamim Iqbal's retirement saga, too many changes in the batting order, playing Mahmudullah at eight - these are prime reasons. There are a few more as well. Every time the coach [Chandika Hathurusingha] had problems with the senior players. This time it was Tamim's turn. We had a settled unit, but everything fell apart for a few reasons.

First of all, it was the drama about Tamim's retirement. I am calling it a drama because some people said he was fit, the rest said otherwise. Tamim reaction to the proposal of batting down the order was not appropriate. For the team, one has to do a lot of things. All these [negatively] influenced the team."

Did Shakib's Pre-World Cup interview have an effect?
"I think it did not have any effect. He was straightforward. He didn't want to take any half-fit player in the team, and he was right. I think the senior players think they are bigger than the team. We won a lot of matches without Shakib and Tamim. We even won a Test in New Zealand without them. There is no discipline in the team. We cannot build a team without it."

About Shakib, Hathurusingha's comments on World Cup failure 
"There is no way they don't know about the reason why we failed. They are the ones who did the shuffling in the batting order. The ball comes hard and fast and swings early, so you need a specialist opener. [Najmul Hossain] Shanto made runs at number three before but we saw him bat at four. What stupidity is this? You are making [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz the opener [in the Asia Cup] and the opener is playing down the order. I wouldn't mind if it was T20. It's 50-over cricket where there is flavour of both Test and ODI."