Bangladesh’s ODI captain Tamim Iqbal on Thursday announced his shocking retirement from the sport, dealing a major blow to the nation, 3 months ahead of the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023. While Iqbal leads Bangaldesh in ODIs, Shakib Al-Hasan is the T20I captain while Litton Das is the Test captain for Bangla Tigers.
Iqbal’s sudden announcement comes as a major development as the veteran pulled down the curtains on a 16-year-long career.
The Bangladesh ODI captain had called for an urgent press conference on Thursday and he was visibly emotional while making the announcement regarding his retirement a day after Bangladesh suffered a defeat to Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-match series.
With tears in his eyes, Iqbal announced that he is set to retire from the sport in a presser at Chattogram.
“This is the end for me. I have given my best. I have tried my best. I am retiring from international cricket from this moment,” said the 34-year-old.
“I want to thank all my team-mates, coaches, BCB officials, my family members, and those who have been with me through my long journey. They kept faith in me,” he added.
“I also want to thank the fans. Your love and faith in me inspired me to give my very best for Bangladesh. I want to ask for your prayers for the next chapter of my life. Please keep me in your prayers,” Tamim stated further.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board are expected to announce their next captain with the ICC ODI World Cup just 3 months away.
The 34-year-old had earlier announced his retirement from T20Is last year, while his Test retirement came way back in April.
Tamim was still a teenager when he made his ODI bow for Bangladesh back in February 2007, and after 16 years, he is the leading run scorer for his nation in ODI cricket with 8313 runs in 241 matches, while he also scored 5134 runs in Test cricket, playing 70 games for the Asian giants.
In terms of current cricketers, he is the third-highest run-scorer in the format behind the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Comments
0 comment