Three months before Bangladesh’s 50-over World Cup campaign in India begins, one-day captain Tamim Iqbal made the unexpected decision to leave international cricket public on Thursday.
Tamim announces retirement: The 34-year-old broke down in tears as he announced in a news conference that he would be ending his 16-year international career.
“This is the end for me,” Tamim told reporters after making his debut in an ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2007.
“I gave it my all. I gave it my all. As of right now, I’m leaving international cricket.
The Bangladeshi team has not yet revealed who will take over as captain after Tamim leaves; their World Cup campaign gets underway on October 7 against Afghanistan in Dharamsala.
Shakib Al Hasan, who captains the T20 team, is a strong candidate.
However, Tamim, a left-handed opener, has over 15,000 runs, including 25 centuries, in international cricket.
His 8,313 ODI runs are the most by a Bangladeshi batsman, and he has scored 14 more hundreds than any of his countrymen.
Tamim scored 13 in the one-day international against Afghanistan on Wednesday in Chattogram, which ended up being his final international appearance after he missed the lone Test against Afghanistan last month due to a stiff back.