Bangladesh veteran Mushfiqur Rahim took to social media to announce his retirement from T20I cricket.

In the post, Mushfiqur Rahim explained the reason behind his decision to retire from the shortest format as he wants to focus on Tests and ODIs going forward. 

As a result, Mushfiqur Rahim, who has represented Bangladesh in every T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition, will not be available for the marquee event next month in Australia.

He also added that he will be available to play franchise league cricket. 

“I would like to announce my retirement from T20 INTERNATIONALS and focus on Test and ODI formats of the game. I will be available to play franchise leagues when the opportunity arrives. Looking forward to proudly represent my nation in the two formats,” said Mushfiqur Rahim in his post.

The decision comes after Bangladesh crashed out of the 2022 Asia Cup without a win against their names.

This comes as a second blow to Bangladesh heading into the T20 World Cup. Earlier this year in June, star opener Tamim Iqbal too retired from T20Is to concentrate on the longer formats. 

Mushfiqur retires from the format having played 102 matches, in which he scored 1500 runs with six fifties and a high score of 72*.  After having enjoyed a brilliant 2018 in the shortest format where he scored 397 runs at an average of 30.53 while striking at 132.33, the Bangladesh stalwart has looked off-colour in years thereafter. Most recently in the Asia Cup, he returned scores of 1 and 4 and also dropped a crucial catch in Bangladesh’s must-win encounter against Sri Lanka.

The absence of experienced Rahim leaves a huge void in the Bangladesh middle-order going into a T20 World Cup in Australia. Shakib Al Hasan, who was only recently appointed the T20I captain, will have a task on his hand to find the player that fills the shoes of the veteran on such short notice.

--Agencies