From Shakib & Tamim to Shakib vs Tamim - How best friends turned bitter enemies

"My teammate Tamim Iqbal is my best friend. We've been playing for 8-9 years together. We have a very good relationship and hopefully, we will continue it."

It was his first year in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and in a video package uploaded to Kolkata Knight Riders' YouTube channel, a 24-year-old Shakib Al Hasan called Tamim Iqbal his "best friend". Just a year before that, Shakib wrote an entire column in Prothom Alo on their friendship. 

Shakib wrote columns for the newspaper for two years on a regular basis and it was, according to Prothom Alo, the only topic that he chose himself. 

You can still find a photo from 2012 of the two stalwarts walking the red carpet and the caption on Shakib's official Facebook page read, "Two best friends, two stars while entering the award night".

The next year, Shakib called Tamim his " best buddy" while wishing him on his birthday. It was the same year when the duo, aided by their wives, "stole" mangoes at around midnight during their stay in the Caribbean for the 2013 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). 

The friendship began when they started their cricketing career in 2003 for Bangladesh U-15. Despite having contrasting personalities, they got along really well and since they were living in the same building at one point, they saw a lot of each other and the friendship grew.

When Tamim Iqbal got an Indian Premier League (IPL) deal in 2012, he credited Shakib for "opening the door". Just like the IPL, Tamim became the second Bangladeshi after Shakib to play County cricket in England and when they were up against each other, it became massive news back home.

It's hard to imagine all this after what happened in the last few months. The last nail in the coffin was Shakib sensationally calling Tamim "childish" and questioning his commitment to the team in an incredibly candid interview with T-Sports on Wednesday. 

An active international player launching such a scathing attack on another is very rare nowadays when cricketers are all diplomatic and media-trained. Shakib's no-holds-barred comments came just hours after an emotional Tamim revealed he was asked to sit out or bat lower down the order against Afghanistan in Bangladesh's opening match in the World Cup, presumably because of his poor record against their new-ball bowlers.

Tamim, an opener by trade, was furious to hear that and felt it was a deliberate effort to get rid of him. But Shakib thought otherwise, implying that anyone should be ready to perform any role for the betterment of the team.

"It's very childish [to think like that]. The team should come first. If you score 100 or 200 and your team loses, it doesn't matter. What will you do with these personal achievements? Then you are only thinking about yourself, you are not thinking about the team at all," he said.

The current captain of the team directly blamed Tamim for leaving captaincy just a couple of months before the World Cup, giving him not enough time to put everything in order. 

For the fans who grew up watching their camaraderie on and off the field, the comments were tough to digest. 

It's hard to find a specific point where the problems began between them. There had been many rumours and unsupported theories but things looked okay between them on the field and nobody raised any question. 

The first concrete evidence was probably the no-show of Shakib in Tamim's YouTube show during the lockdown in 2020 when Covid-19 hit the world. Tamim's chat shows that featured many Bangladesh as well as international cricketers were a relief during tough times but Shakib didn't feature in any of them, citing timing issues and the fact that he had to take care of his newborn child.

In one of the episodes of that very show, Tamim said his best friend in the team was Mushfiqur Rahim. That was a shocker for fans who had celebrated the friendship between Shakib and Tamim for years.

Since then, gradually the rift between the two greats of Bangladesh cricket became an "open secret" and reports in the local media went on to suggest that they had stopped speaking to each other.

In February this year, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan admitted that the speculations were indeed true and the deteriorating relationship between them which caused "grouping" was the biggest problem in Bangladesh cricket. 

Nazmul said he tried to resolve the tension between the two to restore peace in the dressing room but did not succeed. A couple of days later though, he took a U-turn, saying he did not see any of it. "I only said what I heard in the media," he said.

But the damage was already done.

A day after Nazmul's bombshell interview with Cricbuzz, Tamim opened up about his relationship with Shakib in a pre-series press conference. He didn't deny what Nazmul said.

"What's the important thing? When Shakib and I step on the field wearing the Bangladesh jersey, both of us give it our all. Nothing else matters here," Tamim said.

In that press conference, Tamim hinted that it was still possible to solve the problem between them.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha also said the rift was not a problem as long as it didn't hurt the team.

"I have been in dressing rooms and I have been in teams where everyone doesn't get along. Still, when they step out, they play as a team. When you play for your national team that's what you expect. You don't need to be the best of friends to go out and have dinner," he said. 

Both Shakib and Tamim maintained mutual respect after that. After a match-winning all-round performance against England, Tamim said having Shakib in the team is a "blessing".

Shakib praised Tamim after he announced his retirement from international cricket, saying his numbers speak for themselves. 

After an eventful few months, Tamim made a confident return to international cricket and his spot in the World Cup-15 looked certain. But his honest admission about his fitness sparked a debate again and an urgent meeting at Nazmul Hassan's residence at midnight on Monday that also featured Shakib and Hathurusingha probably sealed Tamim's fate.

Tamim felt a "dirty game" was being played and opted out. Shakib quoted MS Dhoni and implied that playing without full fitness is similar to "cheating". Just hours after Shakib's comments, Tamim quoted Walt Whitman on Facebook, writing, "Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you." 

After an ODI against the West Indies in 2022, Tamim, the then ODI captain, said, "The 2023 World Cup will be very important for the four of us [Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah] because we will probably finish there." Little did he know, things would turn out this way.