‘Fastest things in 2023’ – Rajasthan Royals take a jibe at Tamim Iqbal after latter's retirement U-turn

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) took a hilarious swipe at Bangladesh veteran cricketer Tamim Iqbal, over his U-turn from retirement. This comes after the Bangla Tigers cricketer decided to call time on his international career, however, upon his meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Tamim decided to reverse his decision.

Tamim, along with his wife, met with the PM along with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan and former skipper Mashrafe Mortaza. The veteran cricketer took a U-turn on his international retirement in less than 24 hours after the announcement. Seeing the funny side of it, Rajasthan Royals took a dig at Tamim and his retirement call, deeming it as one of the ‘fastest things’ to happen in the year.

"Fastest things in 2023," RR shared a meme with Tamim's picture. Notably, the picture shared by the franchise featured MS Dhoni’s quick stumping, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s blitzkrieg in the IPL 2023, Mark Wood's thunderous spell in the third Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023.

Tamim acknowledged that he met with the PM after which he decided to reverse his decision. He also highlighted that he will take a short break before returning to the sport as directed by the PM.

"Today afternoon, the Prime Minister invited me to her house. She admonished me and asked me to play again, so I have decided to come out of retirement at this moment. I can say no to everyone but it was impossible for me to say no to someone of the PM's authority,” Tamim told in a press conference on Friday, July 7 as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“Papon (Nazmul Hasan) bhai, Mashrafe (Mortaza) bhai were big, big factors too. Mashrafe bhai called me here and Papon bhai was also here. Prime Minister also gave me one and a half months break for my treatment and other things. After becoming mentally free, I will play the rest of the matches," he added.

It is understood that the cricketer will make his return in the Asia Cup and will also feature in the 2023 ODI World Cup, slated to be played in India in October. Bangladesh will play their first match in the World Cup against Afghanistan on October 7 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamshala.