Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal ruled out of Zimbabwe T20Is
Tamim has been ruled out of the T20I series
|Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal with his continuous knee injury troubles has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe starting on Thursday after he led the Tigers to a 3-0 ODI series win on Tuesday. Tamim said that his focus is to recuperate ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh's ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal is ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe after he continues to struggle with the knee injury he endured in the course of the Sri Lanka Test series in April.Â
On Tuesday, Tamim successfully led Bangladesh to a thumping 3-0 ODI series win against Brendan Taylor's men in Harare and scored an impetus hundred in the Tiger's 299-run chase. He was adjudged as the player of the match for his 112 runs that included eight fours and three sixes.Â
The Bangladesh skipper has now been ruled out of the Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier League T20 because of pain in his knee and also remained absent in the only Test played against Zimbabwe earlier this month. Tamim said he would love to continue to play ahead with the injury but cannot afford to lose a long period in case his injury exacerbates which might also rule him out of the ICC World T20 in October.Â
"I was not showing but I was going through a lot of pain. I can continue with this injury but if it aggravates then I can lose about 7-8 months of cricket. I don't think I should take that risk. If I do my rehab properly then I hope to be fine before the T20 World Cup," Tamim said as reported by Cricbuzz.Â
Subsequently, after the Zimbabwe series, Bangladesh will host Australia in a five-match T20I series starting on August 2 followed by the New Zealand T20I series before they host the 2016 World Cup runners-up England in October. Tamim stressed the importance of these bilateral series which will be a roadmap for his team ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers.
"It was challenging but I have been in good rhythm while batting in Tests or ODIs. I am happy to win the series but we can play better as a team. I am sure we still have 12 to 13 games before the next ICC World Cup and those matches are very important as we want to go to the next World Cup we have to be a complete team," the Bangladesh opener said.Â
Bangladesh's T20I series against Zimbabwe has been preponed after both the boards agreed to start the tournament on July 22, one day ahead of the scheduled date and accomplish the series on July 25 rather than July 27.Â
