Tamim Iqbal bids an emotional farewell to int’l cricket

Sabbir Hossain :
Captain of Bangladesh ODI Cricket team Tamim Iqbal retired from all sorts of international cricket competitions on Thursday. The dashing opener announced his retirement at a press conference held at the Hotel Tower Inn International Limited in Chattogram. After conceding defeat to Afghanistan in a rain-interrupted ODI match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, the port city of the country on Wednesday last, Tamim Iqbal sent a message to the journalists on Wednesday night saying he is interested to declare something special at a press conference at 12.00 Noon on Thursday. Later, he changed the time and spoke to the newsmen at 1.20pm.

The cricket lovers of the port city and the newsmen gathered outside of the Hotel Tower Inn yesterday. Tamim Iqbal appeared at the press conference at the exact time. He became very emotional and could not speak sometimes as he was crying during the press conference.
Tamim ended his long 16-year career yesterday.

Tamim Iqbal said, ” The match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Wednesday was my last encounter. I bade good-by to international cricket from this moment. I didn’t take the decision whimsically. I have been thinking about my retirement from international cricket for a long time. I discussed this matter with my family members.”

He said, ” I am thanking all my colleagues, coaches, officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, my family members, my fans and supporters, the cricket lovers of the country who gave me support during my cricket career. I am also impressed by those persons, who provited support to me to perform well during my career. I tried my level best to present a better brand of cricket during my career.”

It may be mentioned that Tamim Iqbal has been suffering from injury for a couple of months. So, he could not take part in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan recently. Later, he said he will take part in the first ODI against Afghanistan, though he had pain. And he also took part in the first ODI against Afghanistan.

Earlier, Tamim suddenly announced his retirement from T20I cricket on July 17, 2022. He also announced his retirement from all sorts of international cricket unexpectedly.

Tamim Iqbal scored 5134 runs playing 70 Test matches. His highest score was 206. He hit 10 centuries, one double centuries and 31 half-centuries. His average was 38.89.

The dashing opener scored 8313 runs playing 241 ODI matches. His highest score was 158. He struck 14 centuries and 56 half-centuries. His average was 36.62.

The left-hand opener scored 1758 runs playing 78 T20I matches. His highest score was 103. He hit one century and seven half-centuries. His average was 24.08.

Tamim Iqbal is the only batter of Bangladesh who scored above 15,000 runs in international cricket. He scored 15205 runs. He is the highest scorer of Bangladesh so far.