Tamim Iqbal to return for BPL, will miss both New Zealand series
Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal is eying the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 for his return to competitive cricket after his controversial and overly dramatic absence from the 2023 World Cup in India.
BPL 2024 is scheduled to start in the first week of January. This means he'd miss Bangladesh's white-ball tour to New Zealand in addition to the two-Test series against the same opponents at home, starting on Tuesday.
Tamim announced his decision in a statement given to the media at his house after a meeting with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan. Tamim started the briefing by saying he doesn't like "indecision" concerning his career and apologized for scheduling the announcement on the eve of a Test.
"I had taken a decision about my future. Everyone knows about it. I had an understanding. I had to communicate with the cricket board officials. I spoke to the board president about a lot of things. We had an open discussion. He shared a lot of things too. I told him what I want to do," he said.
"The board president told me to stop till January since he is busy with the [national parliamentary] elections. I think I will start playing cricket again from the BPL. After that, you will get a clearer idea about what happened. I don't want to keep things hanging for a few more months. I don't want to stretch it unnecessarily. After discussing a lot of things with the president and the board, I want to respect their decision and wait till January. I could have told you my plan today, but let me play in the BPL, and then we will have another discussion for sure," Tamim continued.
"He [Nazmul] also said that he will talk to everyone and make some strict decisions. I will wait for it to happen," he added.
In the last few months, Tamim has retired from international cricket, taken that back after a meeting with the country's prime minister, and stepped down from captaincy. He was left out of the World Cup because, according to replacement captain Shakib Al Hasan, he didn't want to shift down to the middle order.
I told Tamim that after the election I would hear everything about his problem: Nazmul
Before Tamim's announcement, the BCB chief explained his point of view at their meeting, adding that he'd take a decision only after hearing all stakeholders.
"Tamim said few things and he did that at a time when I don't have time because I have election after one month and I am staying in my constituency for most of the time. I told him that after election I will hear everything about his problem. I would not do anything on the basis of talking because I have to find out what is the problem and I want to go deep... like I will talk with everyone and try to know everything and later take a decision like the way I used to do before and he said it is a very good thing," Nazmul told reporters.
"I told him whatever decision I will take it will be during the BPL because, after election and during the time of BPL I will get all the players and members of the coaching staff and I feel during this time I will get the information that is required to take a decision that is good for cricket," he added.
The first Bangladesh-New Zealand Test kicks off at 9:00 am IST at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.