Shakib Al Hasan strolling past the Wankhede Stadium pitches and towards the North Stand meant that he was indeed going to attend a press conference for the first time at the World Cup. It also meant, more importantly, that he had likely recovered enough to play against South Africa on Tuesday.

What happened next wasn’t surprising at all – Shakib was testy, especially when discussing Tamim Iqbal and his own fitness.

Shakib was asked whether it was he who had planned to bat Tamim down the order against Afghanistan in July; Tamim had taken it as an affront, especially at being told this over a phone call by a BCB official two weeks before the game.

“How do I relate it with Afghanistan? What is my answer going to be? You want to know who told Tamim? I don’t know who called him. It wasn’t me,” Shakib said.

Is he fit, after missing the game against India with a quad injury? Is he ready to play even if he isn’t 100% fit? “What is the fitness parameter? You are just here to ask questions… I don’t know what to say to you. I am pain-free, and if that continues, I hope to play.”

Shakib is expected to play, but Taskin Ahmed is out with a shoulder injury.

“Taskin is not available for tomorrow’s game. He will be available after tomorrow’s game,” Shakib said. “He has a shoulder issue that he has had for the last two games. The doctor decided a bit of rest will get him fit for the last four games. We don’t want to lose him for the tournament, as he is an important member of this side.

“If there’s no problem with running, I can play tomorrow. I wasn’t 100% before the India game. It was also important that I don’t risk the rest of the World Cup. I am in a good shape now. I am pain free.”

Bangladesh are at No. 7* on the points table, with just one win – against Afghanistan – in four games so far. Not much has gone right for them, most of all their batting, with Najmul Hossain Shanto, among others, not quite delivering up to expectations yet.

“We didn’t come here to play only four matches. We are here to play nine or eleven matches. We know that a player can’t do well in every game,” Shakib said. “When he starts doing well, and can continue for five games, that helps the team. I don’t want to comment on this, but we want to do well as a team. We have room for improvement.”

Shakib also defended the team management’s decision to move the batters around in the batting order – Mehidy Hasan Miraz walking out ahead of more established batters like himself, Shanto and Towhid Hridoy, for example.

“When Miraz scored that hundred as an opener against Afghanistan [in the Asia Cup], we thought he should do it again in the World Cup,” Shakib said. “He made runs against England and Sri Lanka in the practice matches [at of the World Cup]. He again scored runs against Afghanistan. So you have to give a batter who is doing well more chance. This is why he is batting higher up the order.

“I also agree that some of our established batters are going a bit low the order, but is there a guarantee that they will score higher up the order? These are difficult and tricky decisions that we have to take. It has mixed results. I think we still had chances to score 280-290 runs in all three matches. Only [Mahmudullah] Riyad bhai batted well till the end [against New Zealand and India].

“I don’t think you can criticise this. Riyad bhai is doing well but if we bring him up and he can’t perform out of his usual position, then we will all feel bad about it.”

Shakib: ‘Spinners won’t play a big role’ vs South Africa

South Africa come into the game after bouncing back in style against England following the loss to Netherlands. Shakib doesn’t expect spin to play a big role at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, and is backing his fast bowlers to do the job.

“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose your last game in a World Cup, what matters who is performing better on the day,” Shakib said of South Africa. “We saw South Africa flying high. We saw them lose to Netherlands. They played brilliantly against England. We will prepare the way we usually prepare. We will try to play our best cricket and see where we are.

“The spinners won’t play a big role in this venue, which is relatively a smaller ground. It is a high-scoring ground. Still, we are planning to restrict them to a low total. We are taking inspiration from how Netherlands restricted them. We have been looking at their weaknesses from the last one or two years.”

Bangladesh’s pre-tournament aspiration of making it to the last four is looking shaky. A lot depends on this game against South Africa. Another loss, and it might be all over.

“We still have the dream to play the semi-finals. Other teams are helping us also [by beating higher-ranked teams], so if we can help ourselves, it can happen,” Shakib said. “We still have the chance on paper. Let’s finish this campaign first and then you can whole-heartedly feel disappointed.”

Combative to the end there, that’s Shakib.