Mushfiqur Rahim retires from T20Is, will continue to play franchise tournaments
He was going through a poor run of form in T20Is, particularly in the ongoing Asia Cup where he had scores of 1 and 4 and dropped a crucial catch during the team's do-or-die match against Sri Lanka.
Experienced campaigner Mushfiqur Rahim announced his retirement from T20Is on Sunday. He confirmed the news through a Facebook post.
"I have been grateful to have you all beside me throughout my long career. Your support has been my inspiration during my highs and lows. Today, I am announcing my retirement from T20 Internationals. I will proudly continue to represent Bangladesh in Test and ODI formats. I am hopeful that I can bring success for our nation in these two formats," the post read.
"I will continue to take part in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and other franchise tournaments. Alhamdulillah. Thank you all. Allah Hafez," the post added.
The decision comes after Bangladesh crashed out of the 2022 Asia Cup without a win against their names.
Much has been talked about Mushfiq's recent performance in the shorter version of the game. He has been struggling to find his form in this format since the last T20 World Cup.
He was going through a poor run of form in T20Is, particularly in the ongoing Asia Cup where he had scores of 1 and 4 and dropped a crucial catch during the team's do-or-die match against Sri Lanka.
Eventually, Bangladesh were knocked out of the competition.
Mushfiq has represented Bangladesh in 102 T20Is scoring 1500 runs at an average of 19.48.
He has the fourth-highest number of dismissals (62) in this format. He is one of three Bangladeshi players to have played more than 100 T20Is.
His 72 not out against Sri Lanka in a stiff chase in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy and 60 not out against India the next year to beat them for the first time remain the highlights of his T20I career. Since that India innings, Mushfiqur averaged only 19 in T20Is at a strike-rate of 101.7 and was even dropped for a series against Pakistan. He was also 'rested' from the Zimbabwe series in August.
Mushfiqur also captained Bangladesh in 23 T20Is out of which they won eight.
Mushfiqur is the second player from Bangladesh to retire from the shortest format after Tamim Iqbal's retirement in July this year.