BAN vs PAK | Mushfiqur Rahim summoned by Bangladesh Cricket Board over recent interviews

Bangladesh Cricket team on Tuesday announced their T20I squad for the home series against Pakistan. The selectors have named several youngsters in the squad with a view on T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, however, Bangladesh's experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was excluded from the white-ball series against Pakistan. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin stated that the 34-year-old has been rested for the T20I series against the Babar Azam-led side, Later, Rahim claimed that despite making himself available for the selection, he was dropped from the squad.

Rahim did not have a great time with the bat in the recently concluded T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman as he could manage only 144 runs at an average of 20.57 with one half-century in the marquee event.

Meanwhile, the right-hander was handed a letter by the BCB and he attended the meeting with cricket operations chairman Akram Khan, chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, Sheikh Sohel, and media committee chairman Jalal Younis. 

"We gave him a letter, so that we could meet and talk about his recent interviews. He came at 6pm. I was there, along with Jalal bhai, Sohel bhai and the CEO. We had a good chat. We wanted to remove any misunderstanding between him and the selectors. It wasn't a show cause," Akram told ESPNcricinfo. 

The middle-order batsman in a recent interview stated that he hasn’t reached a stage where he needs rest.

"To be honest I haven't reached the stage when I have to tell someone that I need rest. I am definitely available. Why won't I be? I obviously had a disappointing World Cup. I needed an opportunity to bounce back.

"I was asked if I was available, to which I said of course I am available. But I was told that the selection committee, team management, head coach and team director took a collective decision to drop me," Mushfiqur told Channel 24. 

Bangladesh is playing a three-match T20I series against Pakistan, and the Babar Azam-led side won their first game by four wickets on Friday in Mirpur.