Tamim Iqbal has made himself unavailable from T20Is for the next six months, effectively staying out of contention for the T20 World Cup later this year. Tamim had been mostly away from Bangladesh's T20I side for the past 12 months.In a press conference in Chattogram on Thursday, Tamim insisted that it was a cricketing decision, and that his focus is on Tests and ODIs this year, but he will only reconsider T20Is if circumstances get difficult for the team.
"There have been discussions about my T20I future," Tamim said. "In the last few days, I have been doing meetings with the BCB president (Nazmul Hassan) and Jalal (Yunus) bhai and Kazi Inam (Ahmed). They wanted me to continue T20Is till the World Cup (this year). I had a different sort of thinking. I will not be considering T20Is for the next six months. My full focus will be on Tests and ODIs. We are preparing for the World Test Championship and qualification for the 2023 World Cup. I will not be thinking about T20Is in the next six months. I hope that those playing will do so well, that the team won't need me in T20Is. But if God forbid the team or cricket board needs me, and I am ready, I will possibly think about it."His last T20I was against Zimbabwe in 2020, after which he missed the rest of the three-match series due to a knee injury.Tamim is Bangladesh's third highest run-getter in T20Is. He has played 74 T20Is for Bangladesh and four for World XI teams - three in Pakistan in 2017 and one against West Indies at Lord's in 2018. He has 1701 runs for Bangladesh, at an average of 24.65 and a strike-rate of 117.47, while his overall T20I record is 1758 runs at 24.08 and a strike-rate of 116.96. He is Bangladesh's only centurion in the format.
