'The Board has not allowed me to explain my T20 plan' - Tamim Iqbal on his T20 future

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal said it was ridiculous to talk about his future in T20 internationals, adding that no one has given him a chance to clarify his position and explain his intentions for the format.

The 33-year-old hasn't played T20I cricket since March 2020, and he even pulled out of last year's T20 World Cup 2021 to give younger players a chance. Tamim took a six-month break from T20 internationals on January 27, and it is unclear whether he will be available for the T20 World Cup, which begins in Australia in October. 

The Southpaw criticised the Bangladesh management for failing to communicate with him about his international future in the T20 format during a private function in Dhaka on Sunday.

"Nobody gives me a chance to explain my plan regarding my T20s. Either you [media] say it or someone else tells it [regarding my T20's future] and let it move like this because I am not given any chance [by the Board] to tell anything," Tamim said.

"I play for so long at least I deserve it, what I feel or think they should hear it from me, But either you [media] give some kind of notion or someone (Board) else tells something. And as they say something I don't have anything to say," he added.

Tamim alleges that he was not approached, but officials from the BCB have stated that they are attempting to approach him to reconsider his mind and play in the forthcoming T20 World Cup. 

The former Bangladesh captain also denied the prospect of batting further down the order, despite batting coach Jamie Siddons, who recently opined that he could be an excellent No. 4, but has given up the opportunity if they can find a suitable replacement at the top.

"What do you think? I should bat at number four or I should open? About me batting four I don't see any reason why should I bat at number four. I have been opening for 17 years and I have been doing quite well. So there is no chance (me batting at four)," he said.

The left-handed opener went on to say that new Test captain Shakib Al Hasan should be given enough time to establish himself as a leader.

"I played under his captaincy twice, very early before 2011 and last time when he did and it is not rocket science. We all know that he had a very good cricketing brain and I am sure captaining the Test team is not easy as not many results come in our favour in this format," said Tamim.

"But as I always said that when I was the captain, I said 'you need to give me a lot of time' and the same goes for Shakib. You need to give him a lot of time and you cannot be impatient because this is one format that we are not very strong in. With his leadership planning and everything along with support from all of us maybe in two years three years we will become a good Test team," he concluded.