Reasons for departure from Essex personal, Tamim Iqbal reaffirms

Amid media reports of falling victim to a hate crime in London, Bangladesh cricketer Tamim Iqbal says that the reason behind his return from England is personal.

The left-handed opener flew to join Essex in the T20 Blast on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Essex said in a statement that Tamim left the club with immediate effect for personal reasons.

Several Dhaka-based news outlets, however, reported that the batsman, along with his wife and son, have fallen victim to a hate crime and that there was an attempt to throw acid on them.

Tamim, however, dismissed the reports on Wednesday in a social media post.

I want all my fans and well wishers to know that I cut short my season with Essex to come back home early for personal reasons. Some media reported that we were the target of attempted hate crime. This is really not true. England is one my of favorite places to play cricket and Essex have been entirely gracious even though I had to leave early. I thank all my fans and well wishers for their concern and messages and look forward to going back to England for future matches.

"I want all my fans and well wishers to know that I cut short my season with Essex to come back home early for personal reasons. Some media reported that we were the target of attempted hate crime. This is really not true,” he wrote on his official Facebook page.

The 28-year-old opening batsman joined Essex for eight matches, but is returning after just four days following his only match on Sunday against Kent where he scored seven runs.