Next year, Tamim Iqbal will take a call on international retirement
Bangladesh cricketer Tamim Iqbal says he will make his competitive return via the Bangladesh Premier League but is not yet ready to talk about his international retirement after being controversially left out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Tamim had retired from international cricket in July this year but made a U-turn after meeting the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, a day later. However, in August, he stepped down from the captaincy, triggering criticism from star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
Tamim said, “After the World Cup, I felt that there should be a decision about my international future. Throughout my career, I have always kept myself away from indecision. I have always been very open and clear about whatever decision I have taken in my life.”
He further added, “I was not in the country for quite some time, so this meeting was due. We held the meeting today because we had to postpone it yesterday too. Today is actually not a great day to do all this. The Test match (against New Zealand) starts tomorrow. Since we had to do the meeting today, a statement afterwards was always forthcoming, so I apologize that I am doing this the day before the game. It is important for me and the Bangladesh team that there’s no impact of this in the game.”
He also said, “I don’t want to keep things hanging for a few more months. I don’t want to stretch it unnecessarily. After discussing a lot of things with the president and the board, I want to respect their decision and wait till January. I could have told you my plan today, but let me play in the BPL, and then we will have another discussion for sure.”