A new twist in the Tamim Iqbal saga as English newspapers reveal reports of racism

Bangladeshi batsman Tamim Iqbal left the NatWest T20 Blast after featuring in only one match. The left-handed cricketer had to rush back home with his family owing to personal reasons. However, the English newspapers and other medias in the country have a different version of the story.

Latest reports:

According to reports, Iqbal and his family were a target of an attempted hate crime. Though Tamim denied the occurrence of any such happening people thought it to be true with sympathetic comments on the same.

The UK’s Daily Telegraph reported that the rumours about an acid attack were baseless.

An article titled by the UK’s Daily Mail wrote ‘Tamim Iqbal denies alleged acid attack on his family’: “Sportsmail understands Tamim reported an incident to his county on Monday that took place near his Stratford home.

“This is believed to have involved verbal abuse at a restaurant next to the Olympic Park which unsettled a family already concerned about the potential for hate attacks in London,” the report added.

A source close to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) claimed that the insults involved racist comments which were provocative.

“There was an incident involving insults being thrown at him and his family, and led to him going back home,” Daily Telegraph quoted the source as saying.

Following the statement, the Daily Star published an article which was titled ‘Tamim Iqbal forced to deny alleged acid attack on his family the reason behind his sudden Essex departure.’

The Daily Star also claimed that both the cricketer and his club Essex Eagles have tried to deny the occurrence of any such incident.

“No complaint was made to the police and it seems Essex and Tamim are playing down the incident. Whatever the truth, it is a huge blow to cricket and East London’s Bangladeshi community,” the report concluded.

The New Zealand Herald referred to the Daily Star report and wrote “The New Zealand Herald cited The Daily Star’s report and wrote: “The wife of leading Bangladesh cricketer Tamim Iqbal was the target of an attempted hate crime in the United Kingdom on Tuesday (New Zealand time), according to a report by the Daily Star.”