Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is all set to join the Everest Premier League after applying for a No-Objection certificate to take part in the competition, slated to be held in Nepal from September 25 to October 9. Tamim, who made himself unavailable for the upcoming T20 World Cup, is expected to recover from his knee injury before the start of the tournament that is scheduled to be hosted at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.
BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan confirmed the development to Cricbuzz on Tuesday (September 7) adding that they will take a decision the following day. "We have received a letter from Tamim for NOC to take part in EPL. We will take a decision tomorrow (Wednesday)," said Akram.
It is understood that the BCB is keen on providing him the NOC in order to give him a platform to make a comeback to competitive cricket.
Cricbuzz has learnt that Tamim, who will be representing Bhairahawa Gladiators in the competition, is expected to leave on September 24 in order to take part in the tournament that has already attracted some big names like Chris Gayle, Sandeep Lamichhane and Mohammad Shahzad among others.
The EPL was initially scheduled to start on March 14 but had to be postponed due to Covid-19. Tamim will be taking part in competitive cricket for the first time since taking a long lay-off to recover from the knee injury that forced him to miss a couple of T20I assignments at home.
He suffered an injury to his right knee during Bangladesh's two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in April-May. He subsequently took part in the home ODI series against Sri Lanka as well the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 League. However, he had to quit the tournament midway after aggravating the injury while playing in the league and missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. After leading the side in the ODI series in Zimbabwe, Tamim skipped the T20 leg and went through a rehabilitation program after returning home.