Hasan Ali, Carlos Brathwaite Request Mushfiqur Rahim To Tour 'Safe' Pakistan

Cricketers have often chose not to tour Pakistan citing security concerns with senior Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim the latest to join the lot.

As a result, Mushfiqur Rahim was rested for the final ODI against Zimbabwe as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wanted to try out some youngsters in the team.

After the only ODI, Bangladesh are also slated to play a Test match in Karachi against Pakistan, starting from April 5.

Pakistan is a safe country: Carlos Brathwaite

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) have attracted many star players and Windies star Carlos Brathwaite is a part of it. He feels Pakistan is a safe country and Mushfiqur Rahim should not refrain from playing here.

“Brathwaite has told me today why Mushfiqur is not visiting Pakistan,” Hasan said after a league match.

“I’ve told him I’m not sure but I think he should come. That’s where his team is coming to play against us. According to Brathwaite, Mushfiqur should come, because Pakistan is a safe country.”

Mushfiqur Rahim did not change his mind despite BCB president interference

Rahim missed out the first-two of three part legs to Pakistan. Even after that he did not change his decision as he was unfazed by BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s tough stance, which said, “Mushfiqur was contract-bound to tour with the rest of  the team”.

“We saw in separate newspapers that he may go and then he may not go. So we asked him to tell us directly, and he has let us know,” Minhajul said.

“We are expecting that he would go. Not only him, but every contracted player should go,” he had said. “Players have to think about the country, and not just themselves. This is what I personally feel. The country comes before everything else.

“Everyone should keep it in mind. We will remind them that the contracted players must play as they are told, when selected. It never occurred to me that one has to tell them this, too.”