Bangladesh team on Wednesday departed for India's Guwahati to play the ICC Cricket World Cup, hoping to put behind the drama that has unfolded back home following the exclusion of veteran opener Tamim Iqbal from the India-bound squad.

Finally, when the dust settled yesterday night after almost 24 hours of speculation and rumorus, it was revealed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not include seasoned campaigner Tamim Iqbal among the 15 selected to represent the country in the 13th edition of the World Cup, to be played in India from October 5 to November 19.

With September 28 being the cut-off date to submit the final squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup in India, the national selectors are expected to announce the Bangladesh squad for the mega event soon.

"Our batting [has] deteriorated in the last six months. It is going downwards, so we have to rectify quickly," skipper Shakib Al Hasan had remarked after the Super Four game against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas, who looks after the batting side of things, joined the Tigers in a two-year contract and his first assignment was the series against Ireland in England. As far as Shakib is concerned, the appointment of Pothas is yet to bear fruit.

Four days after screenshots of Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s misogynistic social media posts went viral, Bangladesh Cricket Board faced the media yesterday, but could only offer what amounted to a mere apology on the player’s behalf. 

Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib has told BCB that he regrets his Facebook posts while claiming that neither his posts were aimed to hurt anyone nor he is against women. 

Riyad was dropped following the series against England in March this year after his failure to produce the goods with the bat. His fielding had also come under scrutiny, even from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon.

A Bangladeshi cricketer was embroiled in controversy Monday over misogynistic social media posts condemning working women, just days after making a brilliant international debut.

Bangladesh batter Mahmudullah Riyad scored a 39-ball 26 in a practice match between Bangladesh Tigers and a team comprising of players from the Asian Games squad at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Thursday. 

The reality exposed in the ongoing Asia Cup for Bangladesh has certainly compelled Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the team management to only hope that their best players will be available for the upcoming World Cup in October.

Bangladesh team management has already shifted their focus to the upcoming home series against New Zealand as the Tigers' hopes of making it to the Asia Cup final are all but over following defeat against Sri Lanka in their second Super Four match in Colombo on Saturday.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha lamented the decision to allocate a reserved day for the India-Pakistan match only, the 54-year-old expressed while speaking at the pre-match press conference of the Asia Cup Super Four encounter between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Saturday in Colombo.

When it works, it works like a charm. Otherwise, it appears to be a poorly put together batting plan. At the heart of it, however, is the failure to bat according to the match scenario which unfolded yet again for Bangladesh in their Asia Cup's Super Four fixture against Pakistan at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium yesterday.

"The Asia Cup squad has a few injury concerns and the team management felt the need for an additional player going into the Super Four," chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu said.

With Bangladesh getting twin centuries, from Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehedi Hasan Miraz, only for the fifth time in ODIs, the crucial role that the Tigers' bowling unit played to beat Afghanistan by 89 runs went under the radar in Lahore on Sunday.

Bangladesh opener and ODI vice-captain Liton Das departed for Pakistan yesterday but it remains unclear whether Liton would be part of the playing eleven against Pakistan in Lahore on Wednesday in the first Super Four game of the ongoing Asia Cup.

Bangladesh are expected to face a stiffer challenge in their do-or-die Asia Cup match against Afghanistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore today.

If the hum of anxiety in and around the team can be muted out, the Tigers' strength can come to the forefront of the performances.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha acknowledged the arduous challenge of facing the Afghanistan bowling attack but pointed out that the familiarity of facing the Afghans in recent encounters will help the Tigers' cause.

A big call was made yesterday when Anamul Haque Bijoy was included in Bangladesh's Asia Cup squad as a replacement for Liton Das, who was suffering from a fever that saw him miss the Sri Lanka-bound flight on August 27 with the rest of the Tigers' contingent.