Bangladesh captain Tamim retires 3 months before World Cup, ending…
CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal retired from international cricket on Thursday, bringing an end to a stellar 16-year career.
His announcement comes three months before the World Cup in India.It follows Wednesday’s loss in the first ODI against Afghanistan in which Tamim, who by his own admission was not 100 percent fit, scored just 13 runs.
“This is the end for me. I have always tried to give my best. I am retiring from international cricket from this moment,” a teary-eyed Tamim said in a hastily arranged press conference.”The first ODI against Afghanistan was my last international game.”
Tamim insisted the decision was not made in haste.
“It was not a sudden decision as you thought. I have spoken to my family members about it. I was thinking different reasons. I believe this is the high time for me to retire from international cricket,” he said.
Tamim has been struggling with a back issue of late and missed the one-off test against Afghanistan. He complained about a stiff back before the ODI series but said he would assess his fitness by playing the opening match.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan, however, lashed out at Tamim for that stance.
In an interview with local media, he questioned Tamim´s integrity, asking how a player can assess his fitness by playing international cricket.
“I want to thank the cricket board to give me the opportunity to represent the country for so long. I have also led the side,” Tamim said.”One thing I will definitely say is that I tried my best. Maybe I was not good enough. I don´t know but whenever I was in the field, I tried to give my 100 percent.”
The BCB is yet to name Tamim´s successor.
Tamim’s international career began in 2007 with an ODI match against Zimbabwe.He then shot to fame by hitting a match-winning half-century in Bangladesh´s victory over India in the World Cup in the West Indies.
He averaged 36.62 in 241 ODIs and finished with the most runs (8,313) and hundreds (14) for Bangladesh.He is the third-highest run scorer among current cricketers, behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Tamim scored 5,134 runs in 70 test matches, the second highest total for Bangladesh, and added 1,758 runs in 87 T20 internationals before retiring from that form in July 2022.
He leaves the game not only as one of Bangladesh´s best all-format batters, but also the only one from the country to score a century in tests, ODIs and T20s.
Tamim won 21 out of 37 matches as ODI captain and led Bangladesh to a third-place finish in the ODI Super League, spiritual whatsapp group links ensuring direct qualification for Gaming WhatsApp Group Links the World Cup in India later this year.He also captained Bangladesh in one test match, against New Zealan