Tamim Iqbal says he will make his competitive return via the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) but is not yet ready to talk about international retirement after being controversially left out from 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 Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a day later. However, in August he stepped down from the captaincy triggering criticism from star allrounder Shakib Al Hasan.
“After the World Cup, I felt that there should be a decision about my international future,” Tamim was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “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.”
Tamim met with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan regarding his future but refused to reveal any details citing the first Test against New Zealand that starts from Tuesday.
“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 apologise 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,” Tamim said.
The 34-year-old said he will take a call after playing BPL.
“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,” he said.
Meanwhile Nazmul said there wasn’t enough time to hold a meaningful discussion and that he wants to get into the depth of the matter but only after the national elections.
“There wasn’t enough time. He (Tamom) said some stuff. But he came at a time when I didn’t have enough time for him. I have the elections in a month. I spend most of my time in my constituency. I told him I will listen and speak to a few more people after the elections. I want to know where the problem is. I want to go into its depth,” Nazmul said.
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