Bangladesh star opener Tamim Iqbal is all set to fly for Nepal on Thursday night to take part in Everest Premier League (EPL) T20. Tamim will represent Bhairahawa Gladiators in this event.
Tamim was suffering from a knee injury which forced him to sit out of action for a while. He missed both the home series against Australia and New Zealand recently. He last played a competitive cricket match in Zimbabwe early this year.
Read: Tamim Iqbal desires to win the 2023 World Cup as Captain
Debashis Chowdhury, the chief physician of BCB, confirmed that Tamim would fly for Neplan on Thursday night. He also said Tamim is close to getting fully fit.
“Tamim was advised to go through a rehabilitation process after the Zimbabwe series. He has been working so hard to get fit. He was working under the guidance of the physio of the national team. He started to bat for the last three days, and he has no complaints. We believe he will be able to play EPL well,” Debashis told the reporters on Thursday in Mirpur.
The decision of Tamim to take part in EPL is part of his rehabilitation process. If he can play well in EPL, it would be determined that the batter is fully fit to play with his full effort.
“Tamim is confident after completing half his rehabilitation process. He has been doing all the skill training without any problem. But playing in a real cricket match is something different. He needs to play competitive cricket to see if he is really fit. In that sense, playing in the EPL is very important for Tamim,” Debashis added.
Read:ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021: Five Potential Replacements of Tamim Iqbal
Tamim sustained the blow on his knee in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in early this year. Due to the blow, he missed the super league stage. He, however, took part in the ODI series in Zimbabwe despite not being fully fit.
Weeks ago, Tamim withdrew himself from the T20 World Cup citing lack of match times. At the same time, he confirmed that he is not retiring from the shorter format of the game of cricket.
The EPL will kick off on September 25 at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground. Along with the Gladiators, Biratnagar Warriors, Chitwan Tigers, Kathmandu Kings XI, Lalitpur Patriots and Pokhara Rhinos are also taking part in the EPL.