Former Bangladesh cricket team captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim announced his retirement from T20 International cricket on Twitter on Sunday. The cricketer also revealed that he will continue to play in ODIs, Tests and league matches. His decision comes two days after Bangladesh’s exit from the Asia Cup 2022.
“I would like to announce my retirement from T20 Internationals and focus on the Test and ODI formats of the game. I will be available to play the franchise league when the opportunity arises. Looking forward to proudly representing my country in two formats- MR15,” tweeted the cricketer.
The Bangladeshi player’s decision to retire from the T20 format comes at a time when the T20 International World Cup is just a month away. Mushfiqur was going through a below average form in the T20 format. His last fifty in the format was in the last T20 World Cup when he scored 57 (not out) against Sri Lanka.
In Asia CupHe scored 1 and 4 in the two matches the team played and lost.
This is the second blow to the Bangladeshi team after star opener Tamim Iqbal also retired from T20s earlier this year. He also cited almost the same reason for focusing more on the longer formats.
Mushfiqur played a total of 102 T20Is for the team that scored 1500 runs in the format. His highest score in the format is 72* while he scored six fifties. The cricketer’s best year as a T20 player was in 2018 when he scored 397 runs at an average of 30.53.
New captain Shakib Al Hasan has a tough job on his hand and trying to fill the huge void that Mushfiqur’s absence will create, especially in the team’s middle-order. The next assignment for the team is the T20 World Cup in Australia and the team will miss two legends in the championship.
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