NEW DELHI: The experienced opening batter and former captain
Tamim Iqbal
emphasized that numerous factors "have to be right" for his potential return to the
Bangladesh team
and resumption of international play.
In July last year, Tamim had initially declared his retirement from
international cricket
during the home ODI series against Afghanistan. However, he reversed this decision following an intervention by Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina
.
His last appearance in international cricket for Bangladesh was in the ODI format against New Zealand in September 2023, and he was unavailable for selection in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
Tamim recently showcased his form in the
Bangladesh Premier League
, emerging as the highest run-scorer with 492 runs in 15 matches. He was also honoured as the Player of the Tournament as his team Fortune Barishal secured their maiden title.
"I would like to say one thing clearly. For me to come back, a lot of things have to be right otherwise there's no point for me to just come back and play. I am at a stage in my career where I would probably play for another two years. So, I need to tell them such things and since I did not have a final talk with them, it won't be appropriate for me to comment here."
"I haven't spoken with him (new chief selector) yet. I was in communication with Jalal bhai (Jalal Yunus). I was available for a talk but unfortunately, we didn't get the opportunity. I will be travelling abroad tomorrow morning and hopefully, after I return, we will sit," said Tamim to Cricbuzz.
Tamim also remarked that he was not looking to prove anything to anyone via the BPL 2024 to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on himself. "During my international career, I have gone through lots of ups and downs and there were times when there was a lot of talk like whether I would be in the team or not and I wanted to prove people wrong and actually by trying to do that I learnt that I was building pressure on myself."
"The most important thing that I learnt is that whenever I tried to do that (trying to prove something to someone), I put pressure on myself, and I didn't understand it. In the next match, when I was going to bat, I was full of pressure."
"There were also times when the same talks were there, and I didn't take it seriously. This is the learning from 17 years of my career, and I just tried to do it this time. I know if I didn't score there would be a lot of talks but that's fine, we had a fantastic environment to take care of it," he elaborated.
Tamim felt if veteran wicketkeeper-batter
Mushfiqur Rahim
comes out of retirement in T20Is, it would benefit Bangladesh ahead of the Men's T20 World Cup happening from June 1-29 in the USA and West Indies.
"If he (Mushfiqur) decides to make a comeback..., there are several examples of legendary cricketers who played cricket after coming back from retirement and the way he batted if he decides to make a comeback (in T20Is) it will benefit Bangladesh and nothing can be better than that," he concluded.
(With inputs from IANS)
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