Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal announced his shock retirement from his international career at a press conference held today on July 6.

Tamim had called a press conference earlier today on July 6, sparking speculation of a retirement, especially given his recent history with recurring injuries.

On the eve of Bangladesh’s first ODI against Afghanistan on July 5, Tamim had come out and said that he was not 100 per cent fit but would still play the first game to test his fitness level.

Neither Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha nor Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan were happy that Tamim wanted to test his fitness in an international game. According to reports, he was told not to play the first ODI and rest.

However, Tamim played and scored 13 runs off 21 balls for the loss.

Over the past year, Tamim has missed more matches than he has played due to fitness issues. There are well-known differences between him and the T20I captain and legendary all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Tamim started his international career in 2007 at the age of 17 and has enjoyed a fruitful 16 years on the international stage. He is Bangladesh’s highest run scorer across formats with 15,148 runs and is among the top three run scorers for Bangladesh in each format.

In ODIs, Tamim has scored 8,313 runs at an average of 36.62, the most by any Bangladeshi. In Tests, he is second on the list with 5,134 Runs at an average of 38.89, while in T20Is, he is Bangladesh’s third highest run-scorer with 1,701 Runs at a strike rate of 117.47.

Bangladesh are yet to name Tamims’ successor as ODI captain. Shakib will lead them in T20Is, while Litton Das will lead them in Test cricket, and the onus could fall on either of them with the ODI World Cup in India just three months away.

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