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Tamim Iqbal will ‘wait till January’ to make a
decision about his future in international cricket.
“After the World Cup, I felt that there should be
a decision about my international future,” Tamim said during a press
conference on Monday. “Throughout my career, I have always kept myself
away from indecision. I have always been very open and clear about whatever
decision I have taken in my life. I was not in the country for quite some time,
so this meeting [with BCB president Nazmul Hassan] was due.
“We held the meeting today because we had to
postpone it yesterday too. Today is actually not a great day to do all this.
The Test match [against New Zealand] starts tomorrow. Since we had to do the
meeting today, a statement afterwards was always forthcoming, so I apologise
that I am doing this the day before the game. It is important for me and the
Bangladesh team that there’s no impact of this in the game.”
After seeing Bangladesh’s prime leader Sheikh Hasina
the next day, Tamim, who had declared his retirement from international cricket
in July of last year, changed his mind. He also gave up his position as ODI
captain a month later. In September, Tamim participated in two of the three
One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against New Zealand, despite criticism later on
from his successor Shakib Al Hasan for having given up the captaincy at that
point. Tamim has not yet answered Shakib.
Tamim stated that he was withholding the news
regarding his future at Nazmul’s request and that he will be playing
competitive cricket again in January of the following year in the Bangladesh
Premier League.
“I don’t want to keep things hanging for a few
more months. I don’t want to stretch it unnecessarily,” he said.
“After discussing a lot of things with the president and the board, I want
to respect their decision and wait till January. I could have told you my plan
today, but let me play in the BPL, and then we will have another discussion for
sure.”