Former captain Mashrafe Mortaza is all praise for the selflessness displayed by veteran left-hander Tamim Iqbal in opting out of the forthcoming T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman.
Tamim took his name out of the upcoming ICC event on Wednesday, citing lack of regular game time for him in T20Is this year due to personal reasons and forced injury absence.
The 32-year-old made his decision public through his various social media handles after thorough discussions with the BCB regime and the selectors.
“Everyone should respect Tamim’s decision. There’s no doubt that Tamim is one of the best batsmen in Bangladesh. His statistics says so. He had every qualification to play in the T20 World Cup, and it is well know that the cricket board and team management would keep him in the squad.”
Mashrafe wrote over his Facebook account.
Tamim had taken his name out of the T20Is in New Zealand earlier this year, and then a knee injury ruled him out of the matches in Zimbabwe and at home against Australia. He is also not part of the series against the Kiwis in Dhaka.
While he has been absent, Bangladesh have had the opportunity to trial their alternative options for the top of the order with mixed results. Tamim said in his statement that it would also be unfair on those players if he leapfrogged them now to play the World Cup.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Tamim was “our first choice” pick for the T20 World Cup. But given the circumstances where he hasn’t been able to play any T20Is recently, the player felt it would be unjustified on his part to be picked ahead of other options.
Mashrafe wrote that Tamim has taken the wise call, since he is batting well in Tests and ODIs and “nobody wants to see him lose form by playing T20s forcibly.”
Tamim clarified that he hasn’t ended his T20I career and is only recognising the need to withdraw from a tournament that Bangladesh can’t afford to play underprepared.
