Bangladesh's greatest opener Tamim Iqbal retires

After an unexpected turn of events, Tamim Iqbal decided to retire from international cricket, just three months before the start of the World Cup in India on Thursday. 

The announcement came a day after reports suggesting that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan and Chandika Hathurusingha disagreed with Tamim's idea of playing despite not being a 100% fit.

Tamim made the announcement in a sudden press conference at 1.30 pm at Hotel Tower Inn in Chattogram. Tamim texted reporters at midnight on Wednesday to let them know about the press conference. The venue was informed in the morning. It was originally scheduled to happen at 12 pm but was later rescheduled to 1.30 pm.

"Yesterday's ODI against Afghanistan was my last international match," an emotional Tamim said. "I am retiring from international cricket with immediate effect. It's not a sudden decision. I had been thinking about it for a while and discussed it with my family."

"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. I want to thank all my teammates, coaches, BCB officials, my family members, and those who have been with me through my long journey," he said. 

"They kept faith in me. 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's back issue flared up before the one-off Test against Afghanistan, causing him to sit out. He made himself available for the first ODI in order to see if he could "adapt" or not. The southpaw further suggested that he would not do anything that harmed the team.

Tamim was dismissed cheaply and Bangladesh lost the ODI series over in D/L method. His batting form and captaincy have been criticised by many of late. His fitness remained a major issue for a while now as he missed a number of matches recently. 

Although Bangladesh have been doing well under him in ODIs, it's been a chaotic last few months for Tamim. The BCB president Nazmul, in February, opened up about the "rift" between Tamim and his long-time friend and teammate Shakib. Tamim had to handle the questions regarding the issue on several occasions. His batting form has been a major concern as well going into the World Cup. 

In ODIs, Bangladesh won 21 matches out of 35 completed matches under his captaincy. 

Tamim retired as Bangladesh's most prolific ODI batter with 8313 runs at an average of 36.6 in 239 innings with the help of 14 hundreds and 56 fifties.    In 70 Tests, he has 5134 runs at 38.9 with 10 hundreds and 31 fifties. He retired from T20Is in 2021. In that format, Tamim remains the only Bangladesh batter to score a hundred. He scored 1758 runs at a strike-rate of 116.96 in the 20-over international format.