"I have tried my best" - Emotional Tamim Iqbal opens up on his abrupt international retirement

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal shocked the cricketing fraternity by announcing his retirement abruptly on Thursday. He broke down while making the announcement and sought the support of his fans for the next chapter of his life.

Tamim played the first of the three ODIs against Afghanistan in Chattogram on Tuesday after missing the one-off Test against the same opponents due to a back issue. The left-hander made 13 off 21 balls with two boundaries as Bangladesh lost the game by 17 runs.

Speaking at a press conference, the 34-year-old said he has always given his best and that the decision to retire was not sudden as he spoke to his family about it.

"This is the end for me. I have given my best. I have tried my best. I am retiring from international cricket from this moment. Yesterday against Afghanistan was my last international game. It was not a sudden decision. I was thinking about the different reasons. I don't want to mention here. I have spoken to my family members about it. I thought this is the right time for me to retire from international cricket."

Tamim also hopes he has made his father proud, adding:

"I need to thank a few people, which they deserve. I have always said that I played cricket to fulfil my father's dream. So I am not sure how much I have made him proud throughout these 16 years of my international career."

The veteran will retire as Bangladesh's highest ODI run-getter, with 8,313 runs in 241 ODIs. His 14 centuries in the format are also the highest for the country. Tamim accumulated 5,134 runs in 70 Tests at an average of 38.89, with 10 tons.

---

"I tried my 100% whenever I was on the field" - Tamim Iqbal

Tamim Iqbal. (Image Credits: Getty)

Tamim went on to assert that he gave his best everytime he took to the field and that quitting international cricket was one of the most challenging decisions.

"I don't have much to say. One thing I will definitely say is, I tried my best. I did try my best. Maybe I was not good enough or good enough. I don't know. But I tried my 100% whenever I was on the field. There are a lot of other things I want to say, but as you can see I am almost unable to speak. But I hope you respect the situation. It is not an easy situation to speak. Quitting international cricket is not easy. I hope you understand."

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is yet to name a successor, with the ODI World Cup looming.