Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal, who was left out of the Tigers’ 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup in India, denied saying that he will only be available for five matches in the tournament.

Tamim, in an attempt to clear things up regarding his omission, posted a video on his official Facebook page.

Some media outlets reported on Monday night that Tamim had told the team management that he would only be available for selection in five of Bangladesh’s World Cup matches, while the team is scheduled to play at least nine matches in the league stage of the event.

In the 12-minute-long video, Tamim denied those accusations.

‘I want to clear up one thing – I, at any time, to anyone, did not say that I cannot play more than five matches. This discussion never happened. Even Nannu bhai cleared that up last day. This is a completely false information. I don’t know how this was fed to the media or who did it, but this is absolutely false,’ he said.

The opener also added that following the saga regarding his fitness during the Afghanistan series earlier this year, which led to his retirement from all cricket and was then reverted upon request from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he wanted to stay clear of controversy ahead of the World Cup.

‘The thing I told the selectors was that my body will stay in the condition that it is in currently, that I will have some pain; so, when you select the team, select the team considering that.

‘I didn’t want to create another controversy, so, I, with full honesty, told the selectors that pick me considering that,’ the former Bangladesh skipper said.

This happened after the second one-day international between Bangladesh and New Zealand on Saturday, where Tamim batted for the first time for the Tigers since that match against Afghanistan, following which he called it quits from international cricket.

After scoring 44 runs, Tamim mentioned in the post-match press conference that he was still feeling some discomfort.

Tamim played his first World Cup in 2007, and had been a constant feature for the Tigers in the next three events.