Bangladesh’s key player Mushfiqur Rahim has backed out himself from the Pakistan tour while citing his family is ‘afraid of security condition’ in their neighbouring country. The Tigers will tour Pakistan to play three-match T20I series, two-match Test series, and only one ODI. The bilateral series will commence from January 24 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Though Pakistan somewhat succeeded in organising a couple of series at home. Still, the cricket world has not forgotten the 2009 terrorist attack when gunmen fired indiscriminately at the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore. Well, after hosting three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, last year, in September, Pakistan played a Test series in December at home.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has played a significant role in bringing Test cricket home after 10 years.
Now, all eyes are on Pakistan-Bangladesh series, and at the same time senior campaigner for the Tigers, Rahim had decided to skip the Pakistan tour because his family is more concerned about his security. He further added that it is not easy to stay away from the team.
“I have already informed Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that I am not going to Pakistan for the upcoming series. I have submitted an official letter, and BCB accepted that. Not just T20Is, I am unavailable for the entire series,” Mushfiqur told the media as quoted by Times Now.
“My family is afraid of the security condition of Pakistan. In this situation, I can’t go to Pakistan and play cricket there. It is always tough for me to sit down from a series of Bangladesh national team,” he added.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old also admitted that security in Pakistan is better now while he also asserted that cricket is not bigger than life.
“My family is not permitting me to go to Pakistan. Cricket is not bigger than life. But at the same time, I would like to say that the situation in Pakistan is better than before. I toured Pakistan in 2008 before that incident (terror attack on Sri Lankan team in 2009). Pakistan is a wonderful place to play cricket.
On Saturday (18 January), Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the T20 squad. Besides Rahim, five supporting staff members including batting Neil McKenzie and fielding coach Ryan Cook have refused to travel to Pakistan. While the team analyst, Shrinivas Chandrasekaran will assist his team through a Skype.
Bangladesh T20I squad for Pakistan series: Mahmudullah (C), Tamim Iqbal Khan, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Najmul Hossain, Litton Das, MD Mithun, Afif Hossain, Mahadi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud