I got a call from someone at the highest level of the board who is very involved in our cricket. He said that if you are going to the World Cup, you have to play matches while dealing with your injury (back). So one thing better to do is not to play the first match against Afghanistan (on October 7), Tamim said.

I replied that the match against Afghanistan is still 12/13 days away. After 12/13 days I will be in a better condition. Why don’t I play? Then he said that if you play, you have to bat lower down the order. Hearing this I was shocked as I had never played lower order in my entire 17 year career. I feel like I’m being forced to do a lot of things. I said: Look, if you have thoughts like that, don’t send me away. I don’t want to be in that situation. I don’t want to be in that dirty game. You make me face something new every day. I don’t want to stay here, he added.

Tamim was part of the Bangladesh team that played the in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand at Home.He played 44 matches in the second ODI on September 23 – his first in international cricket since reversing his decision to retire in July. That was followed by an injury-related break that caused him to miss this month’s Asia Cup.

I was very happy after that game, 44 is not a big score but I was very happy with the way I batted. I felt confident, said Tamim, who believes he has come to the World Cup in good shape.

The left-handed opener, who is the only Bangladeshi batsman to score a hundred for the national team in all formats, also cleared the air on local media reports that Tamim had told selectors that he would play only five matches at the World Cup given his long-standing back injury.

The medical department has calculated that if I rest and play the second warm-up match (against England) on Oct. 2, I will have up to aThere is enough time (for preparation) before the first World Cup match. I am sure chief selector Minhajul AbedOne also denied that I told him I would play five matches at the World Cup, the 34-year-old concluded.