Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal announces retirement from T20Is Cricket

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has announced his retirement from T20 Internationals. He confirmed his decision after the conclusion of the three-match ODI series against West Indies on Saturday (July 16). Under Tamim’s leadership, Bangladesh clean swept the home team winning all three matches rather comfortably. However, post the third ODI, the left-hander revealed his decision in an official Facebook post.

The 33-year-old had taken a break from T20Is after consultation with the BCB in January this year and hadn’t played in the format for Bangladesh since then. However, he featured in a domestic tournament in the shortest format during this period. Meanwhile, there was a lot of confusion over his availability in T20Is after six months.

Tamim Iqbal was also unhappy with the board officials making statements about his T20I career. He didn’t feature in the West Indies T20 series either. With the T20 World Cup fast approaching, a decision had to be taken and the southpaw finally decided to call it quits from the format. “Please consider me retired from T20Is from today. Thank you everyone,” he wrote on his official Facebook page in Bangla.

Tamim Iqbal played 78 T20Is for Bangladesh

Tamim Iqbal played 78 T20 Internationals for Bangladesh after making his debut in 2007. He scored 1758 runs at an average of 24.08 and a strike rate of 116.9 while hitting seven fifties and a century. He was one of the main reasons for Bangladesh’s quick-fire starts in a lot of matches. Though Tamim hasn’t indicated much regarding his future in the other formats, it seems he is willing to continue playing for his country.

As for his performance in the ODI series, the Chittagong-born cricketer led from the front to end up as the highest run-getter. Tamim Iqbal scored 117 runs in three matches at an average of 58.5 in the series and was the only player to cross the three-figure mark. Nicholas Pooran was the next best batter with 91 runs in three outings in what was a low-scoring ODI series.