Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal announces six-month break from T20I cricket

Explosive Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has expressed that he is taking a break from international T20 cricket for the next six months. The decision rose many eyebrows as this also put a question mark on Iqbal's participation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. 

Tamim, however, said that he could reconsider this decision if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asks him again before the World Cup. Though he doesn't believe it will be required.

The 32-year-old made the announcement following his discussions with top BCB officials including president Nazmul Hassan, who tried to dissuade him from taking the decision.

Tamim had been mostly away from Bangladesh's T20I side for the past 12 months. His last T20I was against Zimbabwe in 2020, after which he missed the rest of the three-match series due to a knee injury.

He also voluntarily pulled out of the tournament of last year's T20 World Cup, in order to give the other openers like Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Naim opportunities. Tamim said at the time that since



he missed the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, it was only fair for him to skip the tournament.

In a press conference in Chattogram on Thursday, the opener said that it was a cricketing decision and that his focus is on Tests and ODIs this year, but he will only reconsider T20Is if circumstances get difficult for the team.

"There have been discussions about my T20I future. In the last few days, I have been doing meetings with the BCB president (Nazmul Hassan) Jalal (Yunus) Bhai and Kazi Inam (Ahmed). They wanted me to continue T20Is till the World Cup (this year). I had a different sort of thinking. I will not be considering T20Is for the next six months. My full focus will be on Tests and ODIs," ESPNcricinfo quoted Tamim as saying.

"We are preparing for the World Test Championship and qualification for the 2023 World Cup. I will not be thinking about T20Is in the next six months. I hope that those playing will do so well that the team won't need me in T20Is. But if God forbid the team or cricket board needs me, and I am ready, I will possibly think about it," he added.