BCB chief wants Tamim to reconsider his retirement, ‘Will wait for him to change the decision’

CHATTOGRAM: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nazmul Hasan has expressed his desire for Tamim Iqbal to reconsider his decision to retire and make a comeback to international cricket to captain the side at the upcoming ODI World Cup.

Iqbal, who was expected to lead the side at this year’s ODI World Cup in India, announced his international retirement on Thursday, a day after Bangladesh’s loss to Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-match series, bringing to an end his 16-year-old international career, just three months before the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India.

On Friday, Liton Das, who has led Bangladesh in the past, was named captain for the remainder of the ODI series against Afghanistan, after the shock resignation of Iqbal from international cricket.

“I told his brother Nafees that he should at least captain the side in this series (against Afghanistan),” he said. “We will discuss things after the series. Then I said that a legendary cricketer shouldn’t take such a decision.

“He is an important member of the side. Nafees said that he conveyed the message, but there was no reply. I have to wait for his response, I am hopeful that he will contact me,” Hassan said while addressing a midnight press conference in Dhaka.

“We need him on the ODI side. I will wait for him to change the decision. I will still say that we need him in the Asia Cup and World Cup teams. We will wait for him. I didn’t expect such a decision from him. He told me that he wanted to play till the 2025 Champions Trophy. We made him the captain. We cannot think about it differently. We didn’t have a reason to think differently,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Iqbal made his international debut in 2007 and has represented Bangladesh in 70 Tests, 241 ODIs and 78 T20Is. The opener has over 15,000 runs in international cricket, with 25 centuries and 94 half-centuries.

He had already retired from T20I cricket last year and played his last Test against Ireland in April. IANS

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