Tamim Iqbal has withdrawn his retirement decision after meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. But for now, he will be resting for one and a half months. BCB president Nazmul Hasan has expressed hope that he will return in the Asia Cup.
Tamim Iqbal announced his sudden retirement from international cricket at a press conference in Chittagong yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called Tamim to Ganabhaban after returning to Dhaka from Chittagong today. Tamim Iqbal went to Ganobhaban to meet the Prime Minister along with the former national team captain and Member of Parliament Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Tamim was accompanied by his wife Ayesha Iqbal and BCB President Nazmul Hasan.
After leaving the Prime Minister’s house after about three hours, Tamim told the media about withdrawing his retirement decision, ‘I was invited by the Honorable Prime Minister to his house today at noon. We discussed with him for a long time. He instructed me to return to the game. I am taking my retirement right now. Because I can say no to everyone, but it is impossible for me to say no to the biggest person in the country. Papon (Nazmul Hasan) brother and Mashrafe brother had a big role in that. Mashrafe Bhai called me. Papan Bhai was with him. The Prime Minister also gave me a leave for one and a half months. May I be a little free mentally.’
After announcing his decision to retire, Tamim said, ‘Then Papon Bhai will talk.’
BCB President Nazmul was standing next to him. He told reporters, ‘I had an idea after watching his (Tamim’s) press conference, maybe he took the decision out of emotion. I had a belief that if I could sit with him face to face, then maybe I would get a solution. We all sat with him today through the honorable Prime Minister and he said in front of you that he is withdrawing the letter of retirement that he has given. He didn’t retire.’
After the BCB president said this, one of the journalists asked, did Papon Bhai give a letter of retirement? The BCB president replied, ‘One came today.’ The BCB president then said, ‘As he is not physically and mentally fit yet, he has taken one and a half months off. He is rehabilitated in this month and a half and we hope he will return to our cricket soon.’
In response to a question about Tamim’s retirement, Nazmul said, ‘Of course. It’s a relief for everyone. If we don’t have a captain, how can we play!’
In response to the question whether Tamim will return to the Asia Cup after a month and a half as the captain, Nazmul said, ‘Inshallah.’
The Asia Cup will start on August 31. However, a month-and-a-half holiday means Tamim will miss the next two matches of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. In the meantime, BCB has announced Liton Das as the captain instead of Tamim. Rony Talukdar has also been called to the team instead of Tamim.
