Mushfiqur Rahim, a veteran Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman, announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket on Sunday. He stated that he was doing this to extend his Test and One-day International career and to explore opportunities to play in different franchise T20 leagues around the world.
Following Bangladesh's disappointing performance in the Asia Cup T20 tournament, now taking place in the UAE, where the team's campaign ended at the Group stage itself, Mushfiqur announced the announcement on social media.
When Bangladesh lost against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Group B, the 35-year-old Rahim scored 1 and 4 runs, respectively, and the team was unable to advance to the Super Four round.
"I would like to declare my retirement from T20 Internationals and shift my attention to the Test and ODI game forms. When the chance arises, I'll be available to play in franchise leagues. I'm eager to represent my country with pride in the two formats-MR15 (Rahim's twitter name), "The cricketer tweeted.
Mushfiqur had displayed exceptional skill during the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, where Rahim concluded as the second-highest run-getter with 303 runs and had two hundreds to show for his efforts, despite being on the losing side.
He also scored 5,000 Test runs in the first Test, becoming the first Bangladeshi player to do so. His 105 in the opening Test contributed to Bangladesh's 68-run advantage. His second tonne of the series, though, came under more difficult conditions.
Rahim has participated in a combined 52 Tests, 236 ODIs, and more than 100 T20Is, scoring more than 13,000 runs in the three competitions. He has played 102 games in T20I cricket and has a terrible average for a wicketkeeper-batter, scoring 1,500 runs at 19.48 in that time.