Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan said that Tamim Iqbal is not keen to come back in T20I format anytime soon.
Tamim Iqbal last played a T20I game for Bangladesh, which was way back in March 2020. Right before the T20 World Cup, he opted out from the tournament, claiming that he hasn’t enough game time in this format.
But in the ongoing Bangladesh premier league, he scored back to back in the fifties. As the T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia later this year, Bangladesh would want their experienced opener back in the mix.
Tamim Iqbal hasn’t played a T20I since March 2020
However, the BCB president claimed that he had a chat with him but he is not very keen.
“Tamim has played well and he is always good, When I spoke with him last time you can say I requested him to make a return into T20Is. I have spoken with him on the telephone and he just said ‘please don’t push me because if you push me naturally I will have to return but I don’t want to play in this format’.
“After listening to this I felt there is no point asking him (to reconsider his decision) because if someone does not want to play any format there is no point forcing him to play,” Nazmul spoke to reporters on Saturday.
But Nazmul Hasan assured that Bangladesh premier all-rounder Shakib al Hasan would be available to play all formats. Notable that a few days ago Shakib al Hasan made a statement that he can’t play all formats due to bio-bubble fatigue.
“Probably he said this (taking a decision on his Test future) after the last conversation we had because he told me that from January he is available in every format and won’t miss any games and naturally that includes Tests,” Nazmul concluded.
Bangladesh is scheduled to travel to South Africa in March-April where they will play 3 ODIs and 2 Tests. Earlier in this month, Bangladesh achieved a historic test win in New Zealand as they beat the hosts by 8 wickets at Mount Maunganui. It was their first-ever win in New Zealand in any format.
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