Tamim Iqbal retires from international cricket!

In a shock development Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh's ODI captain, has retired from international cricket three months before the World Cup begins in India, bringing a sudden end to a 16-year career international career.

Surrounded by a throng of reporters, Tamim was extremely emotional and in tears as he made the announcement at a press conference he arranged in Chattogram on Thursday, a day after Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan in the first of three ODIs.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has not named a successor; Shakib Al Hasan leads the team in the T20I format, while Litton Das is the Test captain.  Tamim, 34, had retired from T20Is around the same time last year. His last Test was Bangladesh's previous match against Ireland in April.

Tamim began his international career as a teenager with his ODI debut in February 2007 and made a match-winning half-century in Bangladesh's iconic win against India in the World Cup in the West Indies. He finishes with the most ODI runs (8313) and hundreds (14) for his country, and is the third highest run-scorer among current cricketers behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

As a Test batter, Tamim scored 5134 runs - the second highest for Bangladesh - at an average of 38.89, with ten centuries in 70 matches.  As ODI captain, Tamim has a marginally higher win percentage than Mashrafe Mortaza, who is considered Bangladesh's greatest leader.

Tamim has won 21 out of 37 ODIs as captain, and he led Bangladesh to a third-place finish in the ODI Super League, ensuring their direct qualification for the World Cup in India this October and November. He also captained Bangladesh in one Test match, against New Zealand in 2017.