Three months ahead the World Cup in India, Bangladesh’s ODI captain Tamim Iqbal announced his surprise retirement from international cricket, ending a 16-year international career.
At a news conference he organised in Chattogram on Thursday, a day after Bangladesh lost the first of three ODIs to Afghanistan, Tamim was overcome with emotion and in tears as he made the revelation. Tamim was surrounded by a crowd of reporters.
“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,” Tamim averred. “Yesterday against Afghanistan was my last international game. It was not a sudden decision. I was thinking about the different reasons. I don’t want to mention here. I have spoken to my family members about it. I thought this is the right time for me to retire from international cricket.”
“I need to thank a few people, which they deserve. (Pauses, and takes a deep breath). I have always said that I played cricket (long pause, deep breath) to fulfil my father’s dream. So I am not sure how much I have made him proud throughout these 16 years of my international career.”
“There are a lot of other people that I need to thank. My youngest chacha (uncle), his name is Akbar Khan. I held his hands to go to my first cricket tournament. I thank him and his family. I thank Tapan da, a coach in MA Aziz Stadium, (long pause, sobbing), who was my coach in my childhood. I thank all the players I played with from the U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19s, A team, Premier League, NCL and national team. Especially my national-team colleagues. The cricket board gave me the opportunity to represent the country for so long. I have captained Bangladesh too. I thank them as well.”
“I don’t have much to say. One thing I will definitely say is, I tried my best (sobbing). I did try my best. Maybe I was not good enough or good enough. I don’t know. But I tried my 100% whenever I was in the field.”
“There are a lot of other things I want to say, but as you can see I am almost unable to speak. But I hope you respect the situation. It is not an easy situation to speak. Quitting international cricket is not easy. I hope you understand. I am sorry to call you on such a short notice. I thank you all in the media.”
“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.”
“I am sorry if I missed anyone to thank. But whoever has helped me to grow as a cricketer and human being, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. My mother, my brother, my wife and two children. They suffered a lot in my journey. They also had much to cherish. I thank them as well. I have nothing more to say.
“Please end my topic here. It is the end. At least for international cricket. Let’s not poke too much about it. ‘Why, why, what is it, what else could have happened.’ Let’s put an end to this. I have always said that the team is bigger than any individual. Let’s focus on the team. Two more games to go in the series. I think we should win. There are two major trophies.”
During the same time last year, Tamim, 34, ended his T20I career. The one-off encounter between Bangladesh and Ireland in April served as his final Test.
Tamim made his ODI debut in February 2007 as a teenager, and in Bangladesh’s famous victory against India in the World Cup in the West Indies, he scored the game-winning half-century. He concludes the ODI season with the most runs (8313) and hundreds (14) for his nation, and he ranks third among active players in terms of runs scored, after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Tamim was Bangladesh’s second-best Test batsman, with 5134 runs at an average of 38.89 and ten hundreds in 70 games. Tamim guided Bangladesh to third place in the ODI Super League and 21 victories out of his 37 ODI victories while serving as captain, securing their initial qualification for the World Cup in India coming October and November. Additionally, in a Test match against New Zealand in 2017, he served as Bangladesh’s captain.
