Tamim Iqbal's Asia Cup participation in doubt despite undergoing back treatment in UK

Doubts persist over Tamim Iqbal’s participation in the upcoming Asia Cup even though the Bangladesh ODI skipper returned home after undergoing back treatment in England.

According to a report on Cricbuzz, Tamim landed in Dhaka on Monday, 31 July after taking several injections to heal a damaged disc on his spine.

The 34-year-old now take complete rest for seven days before taking a call on his rehabilitation in the lead-up to the big-ticket events that are the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup.

He is expected to slowly his increase his workload before the Asia Cup, but might be forced to pull out of the continental event should the back pain return before the tournament.

“If there is no pain, he should be able to start the rehabilitation after one week and he will increase the intensity of his workload slowly. He will understand where he stands when he gets closer to the high-intensity workload and see whether that pain is coming back or not,” a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official was quoted as saying in the report.

“Look we still have concern over his availability due to the stature of his injury that is recurring in the recent past. All we can do is hope for the best,” added the BCB official.

Tamim, who has more than 15,000 international runs to his name in nearly 400 appearances, had recently sent shockwaves across Bangladesh cricketing circles after abruptly announcing retirement from the international cricket.

Watch | ‘I tried my best’: Emotional Tamim breaks down during press conference

After skipping the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June, Tamim had told reporters that he was willing to play in the subsequent ODI and T20I series against them even if he wasn’t a hundred per cent fit.

His comments, especially the part about him playing in a half-fit state, reportedly did not go down well with the bigwigs at the BCB, including board president Nazmul Hassan, who reportedly slammed the senior cricketer in an interview with a Bangladeshi daily.

The breakdown in communication between Tamim and the BCB is believed to be the cause behind the former’s shock announcement, although he decided to take it back a little over 24 hours later following intervention from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself.