Tamim retires from international cricket with immediate effect

Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal has confirmed his retirement from  international cricket with immediate effect.

Tamim made the announcement during an impromptu press conference held at The Tower Inn in Chattogram on Thursday.

"Normally people came here with a speech written on paper...Yesterday against Afghanistan was my last international game. I am retiring from international cricket with immediate effect," Tamim said during the press conference with tearful eyes.

"It was not a sudden decision. I have been in talks with my family. I always have said i played to fullfil my father's dream,

"There are lot of other people to thank. I thank my young uncle Akbar Khan. I have played under a coach Tapan da with whom I started my practice in my childhood. I thank all the players with whom I played since my age-level days. I thank the cricket board for giving me a chance of representing Bangladesh for such a long time.

"One thing I can say I did try my best. May be I was not good enough, I don't know. But I tried my 100 percent when I was on the field," he added.

Tamim has been struggling with his back pain for the last few months and it forced him to miss the one-off Test series against Afghanistan in Mirpur last month.

Despite his admission of having the same problem and not 100 percent fit, Tamim played the opening ODI against Afghanistan held at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday. He scored a 21-ball 13 before getting dismissed to pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Since his decision of taking part in that game, there were several reports on what basis he decided to play an international game without having full fitness.

Tamim made his international debut during a ODI series against Zimbabwe in Harare back in 2007. The southpaw came into limelight when he scored a blistering fifty against India during the 2007 ICC World Cup in West Indies and helped the Tigers beat the strong opposition to qualify for the Super Eight of the tournament.

Tamim made his Test debut next year against New Zealand in Dunedin where he scored fifties in both innings of the game.

Tamim didn't look back since then and became the all time greatest Bangladesh run-scorer across all formats.

He has played 70 Tests, 241 ODIs and 78 T20Is so far in his career and scored over 15000 runs in those matches. He is the lone Bangladeshi cricketer to score hundred in all three formats of the game.

Tamim got the full time ODI captaincy following the departure of Mashrafe bin Mortaza from the role in March 2020 during the series against the touring Zimbabwe,

He led Bangladesh in 37 ODIs and the Tigers won 21 matches out of these matches and lost 14 matches.

In July last year, Tamim announced his retirement from T20Is shortly after leading the ODI side to a 3-0 series win over West Indies in Guyana and since then, he has been only featuring in the ODIs and Tests for Bangladesh.

Tamim was expected to lead Bangladesh in the upcoming ICC World Cup in India in October-November this year.