Tamim Iqbal last played for Bangladesh in September 2023, and while there have been discussions and rumours of his return to the national team, there have also been questions about where the opener is looking to get himself back.
After the match between Abahani Limited and Prime Bank Cricket Club in the 2024 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League on April 15, 2024, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who plays for the former, and Tamim, who plays for the latter, had a discussion, following which the Tigers鈥� captain said that if Tamim is fit, he wants the veteran back in all three formats.
鈥業 had a nice, long chat with Tamim bhai. We generally spoke about cricket. I asked about his well-being. We spoke about how we think about captaincy. He has asked for a bit of time. He will think it over. We are in the middle of the DPL, so once the tournament is over, there will be more clarity,鈥� Shanto told the media the following day.
However, the comments from the Bangladesh captain beg the question of which format Tamim will be back in.
Bangladesh are set to start their preparations for the 2024 T20 World Cup on Friday with a three-day training camp in Chattogram ahead of the Zimbabwe series, and chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu informed that the squad for the global event will be picked from the players called up for that camp, alongside Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.
Tamim, expectedly as he retired from the shortest format in 2022, was not on the list. That shuts down one format.
The other format Bangladesh will be busy with is Tests but Tamim has not been regular with the red ball in the recent past either.
The left-handed opener last played a Test for Bangladesh over a year ago against Ireland, and since then, Bangladesh have played Tests against Afghanistan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, but Tamim did not feature in any of them.
He has not been regular in the domestic circuit as well. He has not played in this year鈥檚 National Cricket League, the country鈥檚 premier first-class tournament, and in the last four editions, he has played just three games.
He has not played in any of the last three red-ball editions of the Bangladesh Cricket League, with his last match being in the 2019-20 edition, where he hit 334.
His lack of match practice in red-ball cricket puts a question on his return to the longer format as well and leaves only one-day internationals as a possible destination.
However, Bangladesh are scheduled to play just three ODIs this year, against the West Indies at the back end of the year.
It was an ODI series against Afghanistan during which Tamim announced his decision to retire from international cricket before reversing the decision the following day but ultimately withdrew himself from the 2023 ODI World Cup, since which he has not been in the team.
And as it seems, ODIs might be his only option to return to international cricket if he decides to have another go.