Mushfiqur Rahim Denies Travelling To Pakistan, Rested For Final Zimbabwe ODI

In a bid to prepare for the one-off One-Day International (ODI) against Pakistan in April, senior Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has been rested for the final ODI against Zimbabwe as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants to try out some youngsters in the match.

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

BCB chief selector does not wants youngsters to debut in Pakistan

BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin wants to test the youngsters in the home conditions against Zimbabwe as he does not wants them to hand a debut in Pakistan.

“Mushfiqur will not be playing as we want to see one of the youngsters in this game, before they are picked for the Pakistan ODI next month. We don’t want to hand them a debut there,” Minhajul was quoted as saying by espncricinfo

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.”