“If I ever feel that I’m not doing justice to the team, then I will be the first to talk about stepping aside. I will be the first to raise my hand, and say sorry.”
In March 2020, Tamim Iqbal uttered these words after he was appointed the new captain of the Bangladesh One-Day International side.
Three years and a few months on, he has kept his promise. He decided to step away following a struggle with injuries and a poor run of form in 2023.
However, the Bangladesh captain leaves with a golden cloud of memories, and with pride on his side of keeping his promise and putting the team ahead of him.
“The match against Afghanistan yesterday (Wednesday) was my last international match. From this moment, I am bidding goodbye to international cricket. The decision is not a sudden one. I was thinking about it for a long time. There are different reasons, which I don’t believe is necessary to disclose. I think this is the correct time,” he said in a press conference on Thursday.
As he leaves, some might argue that the end could have been better and that he could have said goodbye from the field. His departure feels like a shock, and it should be.
Tamim, the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in all three formats, leaves only three months before the World Cup, a tournament that Bangladesh have reached comprehensively under his guidance.
He has been Bangladesh’s one of the finest captains to date, winning 21 out of the 37 matches he led the side in. However, the disappointment would be that he will not lead the side in a global tournament, neither Asia Cup nor the World Cup.
However, Tamim’s legacy will not be his captaincy but himself. The arrogance he brought in when he started off, followed by the brilliance with which he turned himself into the best batter Bangladesh has ever produced.
His 15,205 runs have tales etched on to, from stepping out and smashing Zaheer Khan in Port of Spain to getting out to bat with a broken hand against Sri Lanka in 2018, Tamim has written some of the greatest stories of Bangladesh cricket.
One of which, often goes unnoticed. It was in 2009 against Zimbabwe. Charles Coventry had just racked up 194* to hand Zimbabwe 312-8. Till then, Bangladesh had never chased over 300 runs successfully.
Opening the innings, Tamim played 138 balls to score 154, hitting seven fours and six sixes, and eventually laid the foundation and the first two stories for the Tigers to chase that down as when he got out, Bangladesh only needed 34 off 33 balls.
His career highlights, though, must feature a story of comebacks. During his early years, his inconsistency had seen him and his family members attacked continuously with derogatory words and things, and that also led to him being dropped for the 2012 Asia Cup. He came back, scored four fifties on the trot, and showed four fingers to celebrate.
After a long lean patch again, when he struck a century against Pakistan at home in 2015, he gestured his hands to show the people talking that he let his bat do that.
This time, though, the lean patch leads to him saying goodbye, with tears in his eyes.
After 16 years of making stories, barring an unlikely twist, Tamim has finally decided to put an end to a career that led the way for Bangladesh to make the leap.
On his final day, Tamim decided to be grateful, from the start to the end. From the coach of his childhood his family members, his teammates through all forms of cricket, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
“I want to say one thing, I have tried my best. I tried to do my best. Maybe I was not good enough, or maybe I was. But whenever I was on the field, I tried to give my 100% on the field,” Tamim said in the impromptu media briefing as he teared up again.
Tamim teared up throughout the briefing. And surely, many of his fans did. Well, Tamim can bow out with pride that he was good enough. He was the best Bangladesh had. Had – a word that Bangladesh probably did not expect to use for Tamim at this moment.
When Tamim stepped into international cricket, arrogance and the defiance he brought with him defined him. As he departs, it’s after more than 15 thousand runs and a bundle of memories.
Tamim was one of the pioneers that helped Bangladesh cricket elevate itself from minnows to a force to be reckoned with.
From the six in Port of Spain, the self-proclaimed century in Lord’s, the four-in-four in Dhaka, the double century in Khulna, and the courage in Dubai – Tamim has courage, brilliance, and bravery throughout. And that shall remain his legacy.
‘Congratulations on a wonderful career, Tamim Iqbal,’ Lord’s Cricket Ground wrote to bid him farewell.
Bangladesh cricket can tell him, ‘Thank you for your career, Tamim Iqbal.’
Tamim’s top five
Tamim Iqbal has produced lots of iconic moments throughout his career in a Bangladesh jersey but some are more memorable than most.
Here, The Business Post picks his top five iconic moments for Bangladesh.
Youthful Dominance
In the 2007 World Cup, Bangladesh produced a huge upset to beat India and Tamim was at the forefront of the Tigers’ victory as he scored 51 off 53 balls.
In the match, India scored 191, and sent Zaheer Khan to bowl the first over who could bowl over 140 kmph.
Tamim defended first three balls, then smashed a beautiful square drive for a four.
However, the iconic moment came in the 11th over when he hit Zaheer for back-to-back boundaries followed by stepping out of his crease and smashing the pacer over long-on, an image of his defiance and a message of his arrival to the biggest stage.
Lighting up Lord’s
In 2010, in the first Test against England at the historic Lord’s, England scored 505 runs in their first innings and Bangladesh were forced to follow on after they were all-out for 282 runs in their first innings.
Tamim, dismissed on 55 in the that innings, asked the associates if he earned a place in the Honour’s Board.
They said he needed to score a century for that. And in the second innings, Tamim smashed a century to become the first Bangladeshi batter to grab a place on the board, and after reaching three figures, he showed the board in his celebration, as if to say, ‘Put my name in there’.
Four-in-four
In 2012, BCB announced the 14-man squad for the Asia Cup at home, and surprisingly, Tamim was excluded but was later included.
He was angry at the decision and wanted to prove everyone wrong at that time as he said later in an interview.
In the four matches of the tournament, Tamim hit four consecutive fifties and ended the tournament as the leading scorer for Bangladesh.
After reaching his fourth fifty of the tournament in the final, Tamim celebrated by counting to four with his fingers, to show again that performance was the best reply.
A double to remember
In the first Test against Pakistan in 2015, Bangladesh trailed by 296 runs after their first innings.
Many thought the game was already out of Bangladesh’s grip till Tamim against all the odds, showed his grit to stay on the pitch for 448 minutes as he scored 206 runs in the second innings to earn a draw for the Tigers.
He became the first Bangladeshi opener and only second Bangladeshi batter after Mushfiq to enter the elite club of the double centurions.
He made his innings more iconic when he hit Junaid Khan coming down the track and smashing straight down the ground for a six to complete his double century.
Fight till the last breath
In the first match of the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai against Sri Lanka, Tamim Iqbal was hit on his left wrist after being beaten on a pull against Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal.
He immediately signaled towards the physiotherapists and was retired hurt on 2 off 3 as his left wrist was fractured.
He shocked everyone when he returned with the bat after the fall of the ninth wicket to partner with Mushfiqur Rahim.
Tamim, in an act of pure courage, faced a short ball with one hand as the other hand was fractured, and from there on, Mushfiq added another 32 runs to take Bangladesh to 261.
Bangladesh eventually won the match by 137 runs.
