BCB president dismisses reports of possible rift between Tamim & Mahmudullah

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon ruled out any rift between two senior players -- Mahmudullah Riyad and Tamim Iqbal-- as it was projected widely following the latter's decision to opt out the Twenty20 World Cup.

Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh's most prolific batter across formats, opted out of the upcoming T20 World Cup, just days before the announcement of the squad for the tournament. Tamim said that it would be unfair on the young players if he played the tournament despite being away from T20Is for a year and a half. 

Since Tamim's decision to make himself unavailable, there has been a lot of chatter about the opener's possible conflict with head coach Russell Domingo and even skipper Mahmudullah. But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan dismissed reports of a rift between Tamim and Mahmudullah. 

"Right now, the players are inside a bubble. I cannot stay with the team. But from what I've seen so far, I think there is no problem between them. I have asked Jalal (Yunus) bhai and (Ahmed Sazzadul Alam) Bobby bhai and they've said that things are fine," said Nazmul Hassan. 

The BCB president also denied reports of asking Tamim to reconsider his decision. "That I asked Tamim to reconsider his decision is false. He discussed the matter with me before he made the decision. So how can I again tell him to review his decision?," he mentioned.

Hasan went on to saying that there is no way to ask Tamim for reviewing his decision and change his mind about not playing in the T20 World Cup as the opener discussed with him before taking this decision.

"He discussed with me elaborately before ruling himself out of the T20 World Cup. So why on earth I will ask him to review his decision," he said

"But the decision of Mahmudullah Riyad to retire from Test was totally unexpected to me," he concluded.