On Wednesday morning, Chief Selector Gazi Ashraf Lipu arrived in Sylhet from Dhaka. He is scheduled to meet Tamim at a five-star hotel to discuss his participation in the Champions Trophy. Another selector, Hannan Sarkar, is already present there. Whether Tamim, who came out of retirement before the World Cup, will be available for the eight-team Champions Trophy could be decided today.
Tamim had retired from international cricket in July 2023 but reversed his decision following a request from then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Despite playing two ODIs after his return, he opted out of the ODI World Cup. Since then, the star batter has been absent from the national team. Although he officially retired from T20 cricket, Tamim is still available for Test and ODI formats. This has prompted the BCB selectors to meet him in Sylhet to discuss his future.
The ICC requires final squad submissions for the Champions Trophy by the second week of this month. According to BCB sources, team management is keen to have both Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan in the squad.
A few days ago, Tamim Iqbal made it clear that he wasn’t returning to the national team. After his sudden retirement and the subsequent controversies, will Tamim finally return? The much-anticipated answer could come today.
