Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu today trashed the media speculations which suggested that Mushfiqur Rahim was threatened to be axed from the team unless he makes him available for the final phase of Pakistan tour, reports BSS.
But, he admitted that they have discussed with Mushfiqur about the third and final phase of the Pakistan tour that includes one-off ODI and second Test in Karachi but the most dependable batsman of the country remained firm on his stance of not touring Pakistan.
“We have discussed with him in Sylhet and asked him whether he would tour Pakistan but he said ‘no’ to tour straightway after which we didn’t persuade him about this,” Abdein said here on Tuesday.
“But the way the thing came in the media, it is absolutely wrong. There was no pressure from anyone else to axe him if he refuses to tour Pakistan this time also. Even ahead of the first Test match against Pakistan, some media reported that he would be axed if he doesn’t tour Pakistan but those are absolutely false.”
The chief selector, also the former skipper of the national team, said that they would field the first XI in the third match against Zimbabwe, keeping the ODI in Pakistan in mind if Bangladesh confirms the series by winning the second match. It means, Mushfiqur won’t be available in the third match against Zimbabwe.
“We will select the team for Pakistan ODI from this 15 members, which was given for the Zimbabwe ODIs. Since Mushfiqur won’t tour Pakistan so the squad is now 14 members and we’ll replace Mushfiqur with one. However we have plan that if Bangladesh confirms the series today, we’ll field the first XI against Zimbabwe in the third match that probably play the Pakistan ODI. So Mushfiqur won’t play the third match if we can confirm the series today.”
However Abedin didn’t inform anything about Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who is appointed as the captain for this series as the last time. Mashrafe of late said that he is ready to tour Pakistan if the selectors consider him in the team.
The BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon earlier informed that they would take a decision about new captain in the next board meeting and Mashrafe would have to prove his performance to keep his place in the team if he continues cricket.
“The board will decide about the captain. In this case, the selectors have nothing to do. After the series, we’ll decide about the team for Pakistan tour,” he concluded.