Turning down the reports about the attempted hate crime against his family,  Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal said he has to come back home early from Essex for personal issues.

The highest international run scorer of Bangladesh in a post uploaded on his official Facebook page on Wednesday said, ‘ 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.’

Tamim also added, ‘England is one of my favourite places to play cricket and Essex have been entirely gracious even though I had to leave early.’

Expressing his gratitude towards his followers, the batsman said, ‘I thank all my fans and well wishers for their concern and messages and look forward to going back to England for future matches.’

Earlier, Tamim Iqbal left English county Essex after just one match for personal reasons the club revealed on Tuesday.

He signed only last week for an eight game stint in the T20 Blast county competition.

Tamim appeared in Sunday’s seven-wicket loss to Kent but on Tuesday Essex released a statement saying his stay was over.

‘Essex County Cricket Club can confirm that overseas player Tamim Iqbal has left the club with immediate effect due to personal reasons,’ the statement read.

‘We wish him all the best, and it would be appreciated if Tamim’s privacy is respected during this time.’

However, it was reported some of the leading medias in Bangladesh that Tamim’s wife was the target of an attempted hate crime in the United Kingdom on 10 July, which led him to cut his season with Essex Eagles early.

The Daily Star quoting a source close to Bangladesh Cricket Board reported that Ayesha Siddiqa, wife of Tamim, and their one-year-old son were dining out when some miscreants chased them and attempted to throw acid at her.

Tamim starred with the bat for Bangladesh in the recent Champions Trophy scoring a splendid century against England, falling five short of another century against Australia and hitting 70 in the semi-final against India.