Bangladesh cricketer Tamim Iqbal has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect
The southpaw burst onto the scene in the ODI format in 2007 and brings curtains on a fantastic 50-over career with the most ODI runs (8313) and hundreds (14) for his country. He is also the third-highest run-scorer among current active cricketers behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in that format.
Tamim had already called time on his T20I career around the same time last year and was the ODI skipper of Bangladesh.
In Tests, Tamim scored 5134 runs at an average of 38.89, with 10 centuries in 70 matches.
Surrounded by a reporters, an emotional Tamim Iqbal was in tears as he made the announcement at a press conference in Chattogram on Thursday.
“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 said. “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 was the right time for me to retire from international cricket.
Between sobs and pauses, he added, “I need to thank a few people, which they deserve. I have always said that I played cricket to fulfill 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, 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. 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.”
