Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal back home after recovering from heart attack

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal back home after recovering from heart attack

Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal returned home on Friday, days after suffering a massive heart attack during a local match.

The 36-year-old was leading Mohammedan Sporting Club in a match of the 50-over Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League when he was rushed to a nearby hospital complaining of severe chest pain on Monday.

He was given stenting surgery the same day and later moved to a bigger health facility in the capital Dhaka.

“After observing his health condition, we have decided to discharge him today,” Shahabuddin Talukder, a doctor at Evercare Hospital told reporters.

He added that Tamim would have to maintain a rehabilitation program and modify his lifestyle.

“We hope he will be able to return to cricket soon,” he added.

Abu Zafar of the Bangladeshi Health Ministry told reporters on Wednesday that it was uncertain whether Tamim would be able to return to cricket.

“Tamim won’t be able to play sports for the next three months. If everything goes well, then he will be able to return,” he said.

“Unfortunately, he is a smoker, which is a risk factor for heart attacks. He must stay away from it. He will have to follow doctors’ advice.”

Tamim said he is “really overwhelmed” by the intense love shown by his fans in the past few days and described it as a “new life”.

“By all your prayers, I am at home now,” said Tamim, who was discharged after four days, in a message posted in Bangla on his Facebook page.

“In these four days, I have discovered my surroundings as I found a new life. All that realisation has only love and gratitude. I have got your love throughout my career. But now I have felt it even more intensely. I am really overwhelmed.”

Tamim scored over 15,000 runs for Bangladesh in a career spanning 15 years and remains the only Bangladeshi to score hundreds in all formats of international cricket.