Mushfiqur Rahim To Miss Remainder Of Zimbabwe Tour; Will Return To Bangladesh After Parents Test COVID Positive- Report

Veteran Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim will not be playing the remainder of the Zimbabwe series as he is returning back home after his parents tested COVID-19 positive, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed. He will travel back to Dhaka today (July 14, 2021) from Harare.

Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe in the one-off Test match in Harare recently and still has an ICC Super League ODI series scheduled from July 16, and a T20I series from July 23. Rahim played the one-off Test in Harare last week but, having injured his hand while batting, stayed off the field for most of the game.

BCB Requests Privacy Of Mushfiqur Rahim And His Family

Recently Mushfiqur Rahim had decided to stay on in Zimbabwe, despite opting out of the T20I series initially. He did so in order to play against Australia at home in the T20I series. The BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) had agreed on the condition that cricketers must be in quarantine ten days before entering the tour’s bio-bubble in Dhaka.

Hence, Mushfiqur decided to stay back in the bubble and play the T20Is in Zimbabwe given it would be difficult for him to complete the 10-day mandatory bio-bubble to play the Australia series.

“Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim will miss the remainder of the tour in Zimbabwe for family reasons. Mushfiqur will leave Harare later today and travel to Dhaka. He will miss Bangladesh’s three ODIs against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on 16, 18, and 20 July and also the three-match T20 international series that starts at the same venue on 23 July. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requests that all respect the privacy of Mushfiqur and his family at this time,” said BCB in a statement on Wednesday.

Cricbuzz reported that Mushfiqur’s personal emergency is his parents testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. And him leaving the bio-bubble has made it difficult for Mushfiqur to be available for the Australia series. The series, itself, is still under a cloud because of a new spurt in Covid-19 cases in the country that has forced a country-wide lockdown.

Though the lockdown will be lifted from July 15 it is expected to be enforced again after Eid from July 23 to control the situation.

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