Tamim withdraws him from T20I world cup

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has withdrawn him from the impending T20I World Cup to be played in the United Arab Emirates. He announced this through a video message from his official Facebook page on Wednesday.

In his video message Tamim said, “I phoned chief selector Nannu bhai (Minhazul Abedin) and board president Papon bhai (Nazmul Hassan) a while ago. I have shared some issues with them, which I actually want to share with all. I have told them that I don’t think that I should be in the T20I World Cup squad."

Tamim further said, "Actually, I will not play in the World Cup. There are some reasons behind this. One of the main reasons is I have not played in this format for a long time. The second reason is my injury. However, I don’t think injury is a big problem. Hopefully, I will recover from the injury before the World Cup.”

“But the issue that drove me to take this decision is that I did not play in the last 15-16 T20I matches. I think it would not have been fair if I replace the players who played in my place in those matches. I am not sure, but I believe I would have been selected for the T20I World Cup squad. But I don’t think that would have been fair. I have told this to the chief selector and the board president. So, most probably you would not see me in the World Cup. However, I always have my best wishes for the World Cup team,” he added.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Minhazul Abedin, chief selector of the national cricket team said, “Tamim phoned me to inform about his decision. All the three selectors will sit to discuss this a bit later. We will talk with Tamim as well. We will take the decision regarding this after that.”

However, Tamim made this clear in his video message that he is not retiring. He has withdrawn his name considering that the players, who played in his place in the last 15-16 T20I matches, have better preparation than him.