DHAKA: Just 24 hours after announcing his international retirement, Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal reversed his decision on Friday after a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“The prime minister invited me to her house today. She rebuked me for my decision to retire from cricket and asked me to play again,” the 34-year-old Tamim said after the meeting.
“I can say no to everyone but it is impossible for me to say no" to the prime minister, Tamim said. "So I decided to come out of retirement.”
Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan accompanied Tamim during his meeting.
Tamim said he had been granted an immediate six-week break from cricket instead.
“I need to regain my mental and physical fitness," he said.
Tamim's original announcement to retire came three months before his team plays at the Cricket World Cup in India. Tamim has been plagued by back issues. He played in Wednesday’s first ODI loss to Afghanistan but admitted he was not at 100% fitness and scored just 13 runs.
Tamim has played 241 ODIs overall with the most runs (8,313) and hundreds (14) for Bangladesh.
