Veteran Bangladeshi batter calls time on his Test career

Former all-format Bangladeshi opener Imrul Kayes officially announced his retirement from the red-ball cricket arena via a video message on his Facebook page on Wednesday. In that video, the 37-year-old stated that the first-class game against Dhaka Division on November 16th will be the last game of his professional cricketing career in the longest format. However, he added that he will continue to feature in white-ball matches in the domestic arena.

In his now-viral video on social media, Kayes admitted that it was indeed a hard decision for him to quit red-ball cricket from an emotional perspective. 

"On November 16, I will retire from Test and first-class cricket. It is the most difficult and emotional decision of my life."

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An overview of his record in Test and First-Class cricket

Kayes made his debut for Bangladesh at a very young age of 21 against New Zealand in a one-day international back in 2008. In his 11-year-long career, the Khulna-based batter went on to represent his national side across all three formats. However, he contributed the most in the ODI format. In 78 ODI innings, Kayes made some invaluable contributions at the top with his former opening partner Tamim Iqbal and churned 2434 runs at a healthy average of 32.02. Moreover, the most number of international centuries (four) came in this format alone.

The elegant left-handed opener was equally capable in the red-ball format too. Out of 39 Tests, batting predominantly at the top of the order and occasionally at No. 3, he piled up 1797 runs at a modest average of 24.28, with three centuries and four fifties. Kayes last featured in this format way back in 2019 in a day-night Test match at Eden Gardens where Bangladesh were handed a terrible hammering by the hosts India by an innings and 46 runs.

But his record in domestic FC cricket is by far the most formidable. After being involved in the domestic circuit for nearly two decades, Kayes has featured for his domestic side in as many as 137 FC games in which he amassed over 7000 runs with 20 centuries and 27 half-century scores to his name. These are some commendable stats and the former Bangladeshi top-order opener can certainly take pride in maintaining such an accomplished track record.

His opening partnership with Tamim Iqbal

More than his personal milestones, Kayes is highly renowned for the partnership that he shared with Tamim at the top of the order. The duo formed one of the most successful opening stands for Bangladesh in ODI and Test cricket. During Bangladesh's formative years, the pair would often get Bangladesh off to a blazing start with Tamim playing the role of the aggressor while Kayes would be keen to play the anchoring role to hold one end intact.

They remain Bangladesh's most prolific opening pair by far, having added 2336 runs in 53 innings. The second-best opening pair for Bangladesh is between Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal who have added 665 runs between them.  The average first-wicket partnership between Imrul and Tamim amounts to 45.8 which is by far the best for any Bangladesh opening pair.

Imrul and Tamim notched up four century opening stands escorting Bangladesh out of precarious situations in quite a few instances. The first of the lot was an unbelievable 185-run stand at Lords on a difficult seaming wicket while the last one was a world record stand of 312 runs in the fourth innings against Pakistan in 2015 which helped the Tigers save the Test match despite conceding a mammoth lead of 296 runs. With that stand, the pair went on to register their names in the record books as that was the only 300-plus opening stand to have ever been recorded in the fourth innings of a Test match.

Imrul is currently 70 runs away from reaching the milestone of 8000 runs in first-class cricket. He will have the opportunity to achieve this accomplishment in Mirpur, where his final match is set to commence on November 16.

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