Tamim Iqbal requests for a break from cricket; likely to miss tri-series and one-off Test against Afghanistan

Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has requested his board for a break from the game of cricket. If approved by the board, the 30-year-old will miss the upcoming T20I tri-series in September vs Afghanistan and Zimbabwe; one-off Test against Afghanistan.

Recently, Shakib Al Hasan requested Tamim Iqbal to take a short break from the game after Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh 3-0 in the ODI series in Sri Lanka. Shakib wasn’t part of that series as the BCB decided to give him a break.

After the Test match against Afghanistan, Bangladesh team will travel to India in November where they will play three T20Is and two Test matches. Tamim Iqbal will most likely be available for this series.

According to ESPN Cricinfo, in his letter to the board, Tamim asked for a “mental break” after he had gone through a tough time in the last three months. The Bangladesh opener had a horrid World Cup as he managed to score 235 runs in 8 innings, with just one fifty. The 30-year-old was also badly trolled on social media for his performances in the mega event.

‘It is my expectations that is creating pressure’

In June 2019, during the WC, when reporters asked about his poor outings, Tamim admitted that the demons of 2015 World Cup came back to haunt him in the recently concluded mega event. In 2015 WC, he scored only 154 runs in six innings. He was also subjected to social media trolling and it made his life tough.

“It is my expectations that is creating pressure. Only people close to me will know how I am feeling. I keep on going back to 2015 because I suffered, and so did my wife and family. It was a black chapter in my life. It is very easy to tell me that I have done well in the past. But I am not at all shy to say that I am worried that I don’t go back to those days again. The beauty of the game, though, is, people forget everything after one or two good innings,” he said.

Tamim struggled with form throughout the recently concluded ODI series vs Sri Lanka, making just 21 runs in three matches with scores of 0, 19 and 2.

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