Many expected Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-final, but we now see that the reality is quite different: Mohammad Ashraful

The ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 has been quite lacklustre for Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh. The side got off to a good start in the tournament, winning their first game against Afghanistan. However, ever since then, they have not won a single encounter. 

Taking on England, New Zealand, and India in the subsequent games, Bangladesh have lost every single encounter, and according to former skipper Mohammad Ashraful, the poor performances are coming from below-par planning before games. 

Taking centre stage, Ashraful opined that many expected Bangladesh to reach the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup. However, the chaos before the prestigious tournament caused their plans to derail. 

"Many had expected Bangladesh to qualify for the semifinal. But we now see that the reality is quite different. Actually, the three-month chaos leading up to the World Cup unsettled the team," Ashraful told The Daily Star. 

Tamim has always been over-emotional: Ashraful 

Furthermore, Ashraful also gave his take on the Tamim Iqbal drama that was in full flow a few weeks before the World Cup. Announcing his shock retirement in July, the decision was revoked by Iqbal a few hours later, but the drama peaked when he was left out of Bangladesh's World Cup squad.

Criticising how the matter was handled, Ashraful opined that Tamim has always been overly emotional with his sentiments, and he also stated that the current management has done poorly in handling Iqbal, and that is why the entire drama unfolded. 

"Tamim has always been over-emotional. I remember, Tamim didn't want to play in the Test against England at Lord's in 2010 because he had a niggle or something like that. Coach Jamie Siddons put his arms over Tamim's shoulders and convinced him to play. After that, he scored back to back centuries in the two Tests,” Ashraful said.

"Even Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza] handled Tamim well and got the best out of him. But the current management completely failed to handle Tamim, which led to all this drama," he added.