Tamim Iqbal pulls out of Bangladesh’s tour of India

The opener will be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s second child; Imrul Kayes is named as his replacement.

Tamim Iqbal hasn’t played international cricket since Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka in July.

Senior opener Tamim Iqbal has opted out of Bangladesh’s upcoming tour of India as he will be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s second child.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has named another left-hander, Imrul Kayes, as Tamim’s replacement for the three-match T20 International series that begins on November 3. Bangladesh will also play two Tests in Indore (November 14-18) and Kolkata (November 22-26).

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“Tamim had informed us earlier that he would miss the second Test in Kolkata but now he will be with his wife for the coming weeks[, too],” chief selector Minhajul Abedin was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo .

Tamim has had a horrid run with the bat of late. He missed Bangladesh’s home Test against Afghanistan and the T20I tri-series after requesting for a break from all cricket following Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka in July.

• Shakib Al Hasan (c), Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Aminul Islam, Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam.