‘We will wait for him’: BCB chief on Tamim Iqbal announcing shock retirement

Tamim Iqbal announced shock retirement from international cricket on Thursday and claimed “this is the end for me.” Despite the farewell, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan hopes the players changes his mind and is part of the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.

Hasan said he had reached out to Tamim urging a reconsider on the decision but hasn’t received a response yet.

“I told his brother Nafees that he should at least captain the side in this series [against Afghanistan],” Hassan is quoted by ESPNCricinfo. “We will discuss things after the series. Then I said that a legendary cricketer shouldn’t take such a decision. He is an important member of the side. Nafees said that he conveyed the message, but there was no reply. I have to wait for his response, I am hopeful that he will contact me.

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“We need him in the ODI side. I will wait for him to change the decision. I will still say that we need him in the Asia Cup and World Cup teams. We will wait for him. I didn’t expect such a decision from him. He told me that he wanted to play till the 2025 Champions Trophy. We made him the captain. We cannot think about it differently. We didn’t have a reason to think differently.”

Although, Hasan had told local media that he didn’t agree with Tamim raising question marks over his fitness ahead of first ODI against Afghanistan.

“I will say it every time something like this happens – he passed the fitness test, so why did he tell the media that he is not totally fit? If he wasn’t fit, then how did he pass the fitness test? If he had a problem, he would tell me or the physio,” Hassan said. “What was the purpose to suddenly say it in the media? This is not how international cricket is played. We will not tolerate this.

“I don’t accept his retirement announcement. He is the captain, we have the Asia Cup and World Cup ahead of us. It is not a wise decision. It seems he has been thinking about it for a long time. It is not taken spontaneously. It is not a proper decision.”

Hassan was left surprised with another player announcing surprise retirement. Mahmudullah retired mid-way into a Test and Mashrafe Mortaza never actually announced retirement. Hassan expressed helplessness in such a situation: “What respect should I show them? What do I have to do for them? If Bangladeshi cricketers are not respected, then who is respected?

“It is a shocking thing for me. I don’t know why he [Tamim] did this. I speak to cricketers regularly but if they behave like this, I have to stop this culture.”

Mortaza backed Tamim’s decision but questioned the timing of it. “Personally, I have 100% respect for your [Tamim’s] decision,” Mashrafe wrote in a Facebook post. “Tamim, your decision is definitely yours alone. It doesn’t matter whether someone likes it or not. There will be arguments from both sides. But no one will understand better than you what is best for you.

“But I want to know something: why bid farewell after just 34 years and 108 days? Was it not possible for you to carry on? Did some kind of pressure force you to take this decision? Many of your fans may seek answers to these questions today and for many days in the future.”