The Turning Point in Tamim’s Story: A Cricketer Turns Around on Retirement

The top cricketer for Bangladesh, Tamim Iqbal, met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opted against making an abrupt departure from the sport.

The seasoned opener stated on Thursday that his international career would stop immediately, a day after he helped his side lose by 17 runs in the first game of a three-match one-day series against Afghanistan.

The director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Jalal Yunus, said on Friday that Tamim had a change of heart after consulting with Hasina at her residence in the nation’s capital, Dhaka.

Tamim Iqbal has reversed his plan to retire, according to Yunus.

He will, however, take a six-week break to get back in shape. In the previous six months, he had been under physical and emotional stress, which had an impact on his performance, Yunus said.

Tamim, meanwhile, captioned a photo of himself with Hasina on his Instagram account with the phrase “Can’t say no to the Honourable Prime Minister.”

Following Tamim’s press conference on Thursday, BCB President Nazmul Hassan criticised the batsman harshly, criticising his professionalism for continuing to play the game while acknowledging he wasn’t totally fit.

The 34-year-old cricketer met with the prime minister after wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das was named captain for the series’ final games against Afghanistan. Liton said that the squad was taken off guard earlier in the day by Tamim’s departure.

None of us could have predicted this choice, he told reporters. “He gave a lot of his time to the Bangladesh team for so many years.”

Tamim’s international debut came in an ODI match against Zimbabwe in 2007. He rose to fame immediately after striking the game-winning half-century when Bangladesh upset India in the World Cup in the West Indies later that same year.

He led Bangladesh in runs (8,313) and hundreds (14) scored in 241 ODIs while averaging 36.62. In terms of runs scored, he is third among current players, after India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Tamim achieved the second-highest total for Bangladesh with 5,134 runs in 70 test matches before calling it quits in July 2022. He also scored 1,758 runs in 87 T20 internationals.