Mushfiqur made him unavailable for Pakistan tour
Photo: Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh as wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim on Thursday informed the selectors he will not be available for the upcoming series against Pakistan.
Bangladesh will go to Pakistan in three phases after the Bangladesh Cricket Board agreed this week to play a full-fledged series featuring three Twenty20 internationals, two Tests and one one-day international between January and April.
Selectors are expected to name the squad for the Twenty20 series, scheduled in Lahore from January 24-27, in a day or two, with all other players except Mushfiq making them available.
Mushfiq rang me today [Thursday] to inform that he will not go to Pakistan. I have asked him to give a formal letter. Once he does that we will leave him out for the series,’ chief selector Minhajul Abedin told reporters on Thursday.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan this week informed that Mushfiqur was the only player to express his reluctance but according to him it was not a complete denial.
According to sources, Mushfiqur to have some family commitments in the upcoming days that includes marriage of a close relative who happens to be his uncle’s [father’s brother] daughter.
Nazmul, earlier, said that they will not force any player to make the trip.
Bangladesh will certainly face a void in the middle-order with the unavailability of Mushfiqur as they will also miss the service of all-rounder Sakib al Hasan in the tour due to suspension.
Mushfiqur had been Bangladesh’s leading batsman in all three formats in the recent months. He also showed a brilliant form in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League, where he is the leading run-scorer so far with 470 runs.
