Why such a retirement for Tamim?

During his retirement announcement at the press conference, Tamim Iqbal requested that the discussions on his retirement end there. He urged everybody not to make a fuss about it and speculate on what could happen, what could be done and so forth.

It may feel good to comply to his request, but that can’t be. And the very reason is that he is no other but Tamim. The sudden departure of a legend from his favourite arena cannot be left without minute dissections.

It was determined that the Bangladesh team would navigate their ship under the captaincy of Tamim Iqbal in their next two big missions- Asia Cup and the World Cup. But the man himself, who still has much to offer to the country with willow in his hand, just at the age of 34 said, “Yesterday’s (Wednesday) match was the last match of my career. From this moment I am retiring from international cricket….’

But why? What compelled him to announce his retirement during an ongoing series at his hometown Chattogram by arranging an impromptu press conference with journalists. Tamim’s decision has also sparked surprise throughout the team. His teammates had thought he would at best retire from the captaincy. None could even imagine he may retire from international cricket altogether.

Tamim did not explain the reasons for his retirement during the teary-eyed press conference on Thursday. He could even hardly finish his words amid tears and pauses of pain. And then he left the Krishnachura Hall of the Tower Inn hotel without giving anyone the opportunity to speak. The crowded press conference room, however, was left bamboozled with curiosity and the looming question- why did Tamim retire suddenly?

In a word, he was not feeling comfortable. Neither as a batter of the Bangladesh team nor as the skipper. Occasional spreading of malice even from the top tier of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), viewing his injuries with suspicion, debates regarding his performance, uncertainty about the captaincy of ODI team- all these reasons culminated in the decision.

Some even are pointing their fingers at coach Chandika Hathurusingha. Tamim was one of the persons who recommended BCB to endow the responsibility of coaching on the Sri Lankan for the second time. Yet, that very Hathurusingha kept him under so much pressure that Tamim could not cope up with it. Moreover, he had a distance with Test and T20 skipper Shakib al Hasan. As a whole, Tamim was feeling the overall atmosphere within and outside the team was insulting and disrespectful.

He, however, had thought of retirement even before. He bid an adieu to international T20 and had planned to retire from Test and ODI respectively. During the one-off Test match against Afghanistan Tamim said to a few of his teammates that he will no longer play Tests. But it was known that he had the desire to continue playing ODI till at least the World Cup, scheduled to take place in India in October-November.

That is why the question is even louder- why did Tamim announce his retirement with two matches to go in the ongoing series by abandoning his dream of leading the country in the World Cup? The thing could look a bit more normal had he retired after finishing the series. Retiring in the middle of a series does not make it a normal thing by any means.

Perhaps the last thing that made Tamim incensed was the comments of BCB president Nazmul Hassan a day before the commencement of the ODI series. Tamim did not play the one-off Test match against Afghanistan due to his injury. At a press conference before the ODI series he said he was not fully fit. He would assess the fitness situation by playing the first match.

Later, BCB president lambasted Tamim in a Bangla newspaper by saying, “This is not a local level match but an international one. The captain is saying on the eve of this series that he is not fit but shall play and try to access his fitness. This cannot be a professional attitude." The BCB president said that coach Hathurusingha is also annoyed with the comments of Tamim.

After such comments from the board president Tamim did not waste time. Just the day after the first match he announced his retirement from international cricket. Prior to that, on Wednesday night Tamim sent a message to the journalists who are covering the ongoing series at Chattogram through this correspondent that he wants to say something on Thursday afternoon. Although he evaded the question of the reasons for arranging such a presser, sources close to him said he called all the journalists to announce a big decision regarding his career.

Although Tamim did not inform his plans to the BCB the news reached the latter that he is going to arrange a press conference. Upon hearing that BCB president Nazmul Hassan and cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus tried to contact Tamim. But neither could they reach him by phone nor did he reply to their messages.

Finally BCB could contact Tamim on Thursday morning. Despite ignoring the BCB president completely, at least two BCB directors could communicate with Tamim over phone. They tried to dissuade from the decision of retirement. They said, BCB is mulling to keep Tamim as ODI captain till the forthcoming World Cup.

The board officials even proposed to Tamim that he may take rest in the remaining two games against Afghanistan. He may undergo the treatment of his injury and fix the fitness problem before the Asia Cup so that he may play both the Asia Cup and the World being fully fit. Despite those propositions Tamim did not deter from his decision.

BCB did not give an immediate reaction to Tamim’s announcement of retirement. But the BCB officials held an urgent meeting at a Dhaka hotel at night and decided Litton Kumer Das will lead the side if Tamim does not play in the remainder of the series. Rony Talukder has already got a call up to fill the void of Tamim.

Tamim has innumerable achievements in his 16-year career. Even without going in detail about them the mere numbers confirm his greatness. He has the highest number of aggregate runs-15, 205- in three formats among the Bangladeshis. His total of 8313 in ODIs is highest among the countrymen, his 5553 in Tests is the second best and 1701 in T20I is the third best.

That is why the despair of the Bangladesh cricket fraternity is so profound- why retire now? Could you not play for some more days, Tamim?