Bangladesh veteran Mushfiqur Rahim announces retirement from T20Is

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim has surprisingly announced his retirement from the T20I format though he will be available for the ODIs and Tests. The 35-year-old represented his country in 102 T20Is where he scored 1500 runs at an average of 19.5 and a strike rate of 115. He did not have the best of tournaments in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 where he scored 1 and 4 in the two innings he played and could not step up when his team needed.

A lot about his retirement will go into the early exit of Bangladesh in the Asia Cup after losing to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. With the demands of the current T20I cricket, Rahim has found it tough to adapt and there was a lot of talks about the tentative approach of the Bangladesh batting lineup in their first game against Afghanistan. He took to Twitter to announce his decision and confirmed that he will be available to play in franchise T20 leagues.

“I would like to announce my retirement from T20 INTERNATIONALS and focus on Test and ODI formats of the game. I will be available to play franchise leagues when the opportunity arrives. Looking forward to proudly represent my nation in the two formats-MR15," Rahim tweeted. 

Rahim has played a vital part in the Bangladesh setup for years and he almost won a game for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup against India in 2016. He hasn’t played much T20 leagues around the world apart from the Bangladesh Premier League and his strike rate has been on the questionable side.  

He captained the side for a while and is considered among the greatest to have played from his country. Meanwhile, the retirement of Rahim has clearly indicated that the Bangladesh are likely to move on from the experienced cricketers and bring a lot of young and fresh talent. Sri Lanka invested in young talent few years back and are now reaping the rewards for it.