BCB to honour Tamim with special tribute at BPL final

Tamim Iqbal, who has been away from the national team for a long time, recently announced his retirement from international cricket on January 10, bringing an end to his 17-year international career. This could potentially be his last Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). To honour the veteran opener, who is in the final stages of his playing career, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to pay tribute.

Tamim Iqbal's team, Fortune Barishal, has reached the BPL final for the second consecutive time. They will face Chittagong Kings on February 7 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Before the prize-giving ceremony following this match, BCB will present Tamim with a special memento. The country's cricket governing body made this announcement in a statement on Thursday.

This recognition is being given to Tamim for his contributions to Bangladeshi cricket. In the statement, the BCB said: "Bangladesh batting superstar Tamim Iqbal Khan has recently announced his retirement from international cricket. In appreciation of his contribution to Bangladesh cricket, special mementoes from the BCB will be handed over to the champion batsman prior to the presentation ceremony of tomorrow's final of Dutch Bangla Bank BPL T20 2025.''

Tamim made his international debut 17 years ago in One-Day International (ODI) cricket. He played his first match for Bangladesh against Kenya on February 9, 2007. His final ODI was against New Zealand in September 2023 at home.

In his 243-match ODI career for Bangladesh, Tamim has scored 8,357 runs at an average of 36.65, including 14 centuries and 56 half-centuries. He is the only Bangladeshi batsman to have scored more than 8,000 runs in ODIs. Tamim also leads Bangladesh in both centuries and half-centuries.

In 70 Test matches, Tamim has scored 5,134 runs at an average of 38.89 in 134 innings, including 10 centuries and 31 half-centuries, making him the second-highest run-scorer among Bangladeshi batsmen. His last Test appearance was in April 2023. In 78 T20Is, Tamim scored 1,758 runs at an average of 24.65, including one century and seven half-centuries. He is the only Bangladeshi batsman to have scored a century in this format. Tamim last played a T20I in March 2020 and announced his retirement from T20Is in July 2022.