Following an emotional announcement of his retirement in Chattogram, Tamim Iqbal has reversed his decision just one day later, thanks to the intervention of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The meeting between Tamim, accompanied by his wife, and Hasina, along with former captain Mashrafe Mortaza and BCB president Nazmul Hassan, took place on Friday afternoon at the Prime Minister’s residence in Dhaka. Although ESPNcricinfo learned about the meeting on Thursday evening, the actual turnaround occurred on Friday afternoon.
It is understood that Mashrafe, who is also a member of parliament, initiated the process by discussing the situation with the prime minister. Prior to this, Tamim had refused to engage in retirement discussions with Hassan. On Thursday afternoon, he publicly announced his retirement through a live TV broadcast, during which he became emotional and broke down multiple times while expressing his decision.
Tamim Iqbal sobbing and struggling to speak while announcing his retirement is the most heart breaking thing you will see today on #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/B2MIqqfZDN
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) July 6, 2023
This announcement gained significant attention on both television and social media throughout the day. However, on Friday evening, a different Tamim spoke to the media outside the Prime Minister’s residence, revealing that he had been granted a six-week break to recover from his injuries.
After leading Bangladesh in the first ODI against Afghanistan, Tamim, who announced his retirement the following day, will not participate in the remaining matches of the series. Litton Das has been designated as the captain for the upcoming matches scheduled on July 8 and 11.
After meeting with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Tamim Iqbal decided to rescind his retirement announcement.#Cricket #CricketNews #TamimIqbal #Bangladesh #retirement #BangladeshCricket #SheikhHasina #CricketWorldCup #Sportzcraazy #Followus #Comment #PrimeMinister… pic.twitter.com/E9k0Z5WmKC
— SportzCraazy (@sportzcraazy) July 7, 2023