Imrul Kayes announces red-ball retirement

Imrul Kayes has announced his retirement from Test and first-class cricket. He said in a video message on his Facebook page that his last red-ball match will be Khulna Division’s National Cricket League (NCL) match against Dhaka Division at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka next week. He will, however, continue to play white-ball cricket.

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

Imrul played the last of his 39 Tests at Eden Gardens in 2019, in the first day-night Test match in India. Batting mostly at the top of the order and occasionally at No. 3, he made 1797 runs at an average of 24.28, with three centuries and four fifties. His Test career was most notable for his opening partnership with Tamim Iqbal; they remain Bangladesh’s most prolific first-wicket pair

Imrul’s Test career was however more about his opening partnership with Tamim Iqbal. They remain Bangladesh’s most prolific opening pair by far, having added 2336 runs in 53 innings. The next-highest aggregate for a Bangladesh opening pair currently is 665 runs between Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal. Imrul and Tamim’s average first-wicket partnership of 45.80 is also the best of any Bangladesh opening pair.

They put on four century stands, the first of them a 185-run partnership at Lord’s in 2010, and the last a world-record 312 against Pakistan in Khulna in 2015. It helped Bangladesh save the Test match after conceding a 296-run first-innings lead, and remains the only 300-plus opening stand in the third or fourth innings of a Test match. The last time they opened together was in the 2018 home Test series against Sri Lanka.

Imrul is now 70 runs short of the 8000-run mark in first-class cricket. He will have a chance to complete the feat in Mirpur, where his farewell game begins on November 16.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84