Tamim Iqbal, the One-Day International captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team, has made himself unavailable for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Oman and the UAE from October 17.
The left-handed opener was undergoing a rehabilitation programme for a knee injury and he was kept out of the squad for the T20 series against Zimbabwe, Australia, and the series against New Zealand which starts Wednesday.
Tamim, in a video message on his verified Facebook account, said he called the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hasan and the chief selector Minhazul Abedin to convey his thoughts regarding the upcoming T20 World Cup.
"I have a little announcement to make. Shortly before, I called our BCB president Papon (Nazmul Hasan) bhai and chief selector Nannu (Minhazul Abedin) bhai and said something which I would like to share with you. I told them that I should not be on the World Cup team, basically, I am not available for the World Cup," said the opening batsman in his video message.
He chalked out a few reasons for making such a decision.
"Game time is one of the biggest reasons. I have not been playing the T20 format for the national team for quite a long time. Secondly, injury, though I think the injury would not be a problem as I hope to be fit before the World Cup," he said.
"But the main thing that prompted me to take this decision is, I did not play in the last 15-16 T20 matches for Bangladesh and I think it would not be fair to those who were covering up for me if I suddenly claimed my spot again. Probably I would make it to the World Cup team, but I do not think that would be a fair judgment," said Tamim.
The opening batsman also cleared up that this was not his retirement from T20 altogether but he was just skipping the T20WC 2021.
"Probably you will not see me in this World Cup, I could only wish all the best to the team for this series and the world cup," he added.
