As Bangladesh Cricket Board announced their Cricket World Cup squad on Tuesday, the fans and cricket enthusiasts are dissatisfied with the team for the tournament. The anger and disappointment were justified as the team ignored the experienced left-handed opener, Tamim Iqbal. Tamim, who had been in the limelight after his decision to call off his retirement, has been in and out of the team since July 2023 and was also not included in the Asia Cup 2023.

Iqbal has represented Bangladesh in three ODI World Cups before this. Except for him, Shakib al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, and Mushfiqur Rahim have also represented the Men in Green in an excess of two World Cups. This makes Bangladesh the most experienced side in the 2023 CWC. Shakib made his CWC debut in 2011 and played in 2015 and 2019 editions of the tournament. Mahmudullah has also played in the 2011, 2015, and 2019 World Cups, while Rahim has been the most experienced with four World Cup appearances. Including Tamim in the side would have made the Bangladeshis confident about performing well in the Cup. 

Apart from Bangladesh, India along with England, Australia, and New Zealand also have players in their CWC ’23 squad who have represented their respective countries in more than two World Cups. For India, the chase master, Virat Kohli has appeared in three WC editions, in 2011, 2015, and 2019, and is now going to play there for the fourth time. For Australia, the test GOAT, Steven Smith made his World Cup debut in 2011 and has played for the Men in Yellow since then. The veteran spinner, Adil Rashid is the most experienced campaigner when it comes to ODI World Cups for England. While the Blackcaps have included two such athletes, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee. Both of these players have played for New Zealand in the last three editions of the tournament. 

Experience is certainly important for a team to perform, that is what players like Tamim Iqbal bring to the table. The exclusion from the squad is disappointing for the fans and may mark the end of the career of an underrated batting prodigy.