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Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal announced his retirement from international cricket in a shocking fashion on Thursday. The announcement came after Bangladesh's defeat vs Afghanistan in the first ODI of their three-match series.
Tamim announced his retirement by saying, "This is the end for me. I have given my best & have tried my best. I am retiring from international cricket at this moment. Yesterday against Afghanistan was my last international game. I am retiring from international cricket effective right now. It was not a sudden decision. I was thinking about the different reasons & don't want to mention them here. I have spoken to my family members about it. They also think this is the right time for me to retire from international cricket."
Then what happened so suddenly that the 34-year-old changed his decision to not retire? According to Dhaka Tribune, the BCB confirmed that he has withdrawn his decision after an intervention from Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tamim Iqbal has led his side in 37 ODIs, in which Bangladesh won 21. His win percentage of 60 is the highest among all 15 captains who ever led the national side, including the most-capped Mashrafe Mortaza, whose win percentage was 58.13. Tamim Iqbal announced his decision to quit T20Is on June 2022. He is Bangladesh's highest runscorer with 8313 runs from 241 ODIs at an average of 36.62, including 14 centuries and 56 fifties.